Don't You Wish You Were Us?
by SpikeANDJerome
Summary: Friendship leads the band to have to help...their worst enemy. Perhaps the kindness of Lemonade Mouth can give Ray redemption, and maybe romance. Pairings: Wen/Olivia, Stella/Ray, Mo/Scott, Charlie/his groupies. Picks up where the extended scene ends.
1. Chapter 1

Don't You Wish You Were Us?

I do not own Lemonade Mouth

CHAPTER 1

"OK, I can't decide whether the Madison performance or being on Moxie's show was more amazing," beamed Stella as the band left the television studio.

"You're joking, right?" Scott always would rather perform than anything else. "NOTHING beats that enormous crowd at the Madison!"

"You don't get it, Scott," said Mo. "Moxie's show is the Great Chick Happy Place. All the cutest rock star guys," "and most ferocious rock star girls", Stella interjected, "play on her show," finished Mo.

"SO, this means that we are 'the cutest…' Thankfully, Scott's phone interrupted that train of conversation. "Hello? Oh, hi Jules. What? Wait, I can't hear you." And he walked away to hear the call better.

Mo followed, working to keep her fury down. She had finally forgiven Scott his transgression earlier that year, and their relationship had taken a whole new level. They were mutually respectful of each other's talent and dedication, rather than him looking at her as his cute little rock star groupie accessory. He had put everything on the line – his band, his friendship with is best friend, his reputation at school – to help her and Lemonade Mouth at the RIZing Star competition. That single act changed everything for Mo and Scott. And this also meant that Mo completely trusted him.

However, the fact that Jules was _calling him _was a little much to bear. She worked to control herself, knowing that Scott only had eyes for Mo. Whatever game it was that Jules was after, it wasn't going to fly. All the same…it was best to stick nearby, just out of curiosity…

Wen approached Olivia and said to her quietly, "Olivia, can we talk a second?"

_Crap_, thought Olivia. _He needs to hash this out, and make sure I understand that we're just friends and that he said what he did in order to help me cover for Mo._ "Sure, yeah, ok." She let the words stumble out of her mouth, _just as they did on TV, _she thought.

_OK, now's my chance, _thought Wen. He was too foolish the day he gave Olivia the kitten to clearly express himself to her. And now that she outed them on national television, he felt it was time to finally make his feelings perfectly clear to her. He was annoyed with himself for letting her falter like that. He should have been the one to jump in and declare himself to her.

Olivia had to think quickly to save what was left of her dignity. Wen knew her feelings for him: besides outright shouting at him the day of the RIZ-ing Star competition, she was always a stumbling fool around him. If he didn't know by now how she felt, then he was a half-wit by far. He had plenty of opportunities to respond to her. He could have gone after her that afternoon when she shouted "I did it for you, you jerk!" He could have said something to her that night, or when he brought her the kitten, or at his father's wedding. The fact that he didn't told her volumes: he thinks of her as a good friend who needs to be cheered up every once in awhile, but he did not think anything more of her.

_Alright Gifford, now, now NOW! _Wen pushed himself to finally speak up. He thought back to all of his previous foolishness and cowardice: he was completely floored with surprise when she shouted her feelings for him the afternoon of RIZing Star. He had been always had a crush on her. He had tried to talk to her, but she always looked at him like he was some kind of freak and ran away. Then, when they started writing music together, after her initial shock that he was at her house (again, looking totally repulsed at the thought of him being there), she seemed to finally warm up. He dared to hope that she might grow to care for him. Then, there it was, shouted from the rooftops (or at least from her perch on her bike). He couldn't believe it, and he was thrilled! But before he could get over the shock and go after her, she was gone. He thought that bringing her the kitten would make up for it, or that inviting her to his dad's wedding _as my guest _would finally seal the deal. However, the day of the kitten didn't quite work out. As she embraced him – _and every cell of my being exploded with electricity _– he was going to kiss her. However, the door to her house was open, and Grams was inside. This was not the time to make a move. Then, she and Grams got to work at settling the kitten in, and the moment had passed. Then, his dad's wedding. Well, when he went to invite her, everyone was together, and she thought he was inviting everyone to the wedding. Truth be told, he did want his family-outside-his-family there on his dad's day. Then, when he asked his dad if his 4 closest friends could perhaps be added to the guest list, Sidney _begged _for them to perform at the wedding. There went another opportunity, but it was great to get to play at the wedding.

And now, that poor girl, in an attempt to bail her friend out of hot water with her father, blurted out on national TV that she and Wen were "dating-ish". The girl who was sent to fits of vomiting over the thought of singing in front of her high school, just announced _on TV_ her most intimate thought, and in such a clumsy manner. _If you had only been a man about this earlier, she wouldn't have had to be flailing in the wind like that_. Enough is enough! Now is the time to just make this happen.

Wen turned toward Olivia, and they walked a few steps away from their friends, out of earshot. "Olivia," Wen began. "I…"

Just then, Scott came running back to the group, Mo not far behind. "Ray's been in a car accident and is in the hospital. He's unconscious."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the adds, everyone!**

I do not own Lemonade Mouth

Chapter 2

"What happened?" asked Charlie. Scott said, "Well, they don't know much. It looks like he and his sister were coming home from a party, and while going through an intersection, someone turned left in front of them. They hit that car head-on. They are both in the hospital." "Oh no," said Olivia.

"Well, there's more," said Scott. "No one can get a hold of his parents. Both his and his sister's phones were destroyed in the accident, and no one is at his house. I'm pretty sure I remember him saying that they were on a cruise. I need to try to find them, and he can't be alone in a hospital when he comes to. I have to get back to him."

Scott looked around at all of their faces. There were mixed emotions playing across the group. Ray Beech had gone out of his way to make their lives a living hell on a daily basis. The rise to fame of their band was the only thing that kept them safe from him, and that was only because they had fans. Ray wasn't going to risk losing his foothold at the top of the high school social ladder, and so he backed off once they became famous, a little bit. He did ruin their gig at Dante's. Then, all the band members' coincidental injuries that had happened on the day of the RIZ-ing Star competition had been dubbed "the Curse of Ray Beech". And only in high school could this happen: it had somehow raised his popularity. So, though the members of Lemonade Mouth were a much-loved household name for teenagers across the country, they were still somehow beneath Ray Beech's oppressive thumb at their own high school.

Nevertheless, no good person wishes harm on another person, even a bully like Ray Beech. And regardless of how all of them felt about Ray, they knew that he was Scott's best friend. The friendship had muted a bit after Scott's "desertion" from Mudslide Crush to Lemonade Mouth at the RIZ-ing Star competition. But at the end of the day, Ray and Scott had always been and always would be friends. Scott knew everything about Ray, the things that no one else knew. And if nothing else, the fear that Scott would share these things kept Ray from completely severing the friendship.

"I know you hate him, but he's my best friend. I have to be there for him," said Scott.

"We still have 2 more shows, and we were going to interview possible managers while we're here in New York," said Stella.

Scott replied, "I'm so sorry to do this to you. I have to help Ray. I need to try to find his parents, and he can't wake up alone. That will harm him more than the accident did." They seemed to understand that last part: Ray Beech was used to being surrounded by people. In fact, no one could remember a time that they had seen him alone. Scott continued, "You were a phenomenal band without me. I think you can play these 2 shows. In anything that needs 2 guitars, we can scale back the bass line so that Olivia can play it, and Mo can play my part. And as for the manager, I completely trust your guys' judgment and will go with whomever you choose."

Everyone looked at Scott with deep sympathy. They knew their love for one another, and they would be heart-broken if anything like this were to happen to any of them. So, without exchanging a single word, all of them sprung into action, knowing instinctively what they had to do.

"I won't learn your part, Scott, because I'm going with you," said Mo. "Baba will be thrilled to get home anyway."

"No, Mo. You're not going to give up this chance," said Scott.

Charlie piped in, "My mom is a travel agent. She can get us the soonest tickets back home. And she can try to find the cruise that Ray's parents are on."

"Seriously, Charlie? You?" Scott was bowled over in surprise. He knew perfectly well how Charlie felt about Mo (you had to be blind not to see it), and yet here he was offering to help. And at that, help by extension for Ray, the boy who took no end of delight in seeing Charlie embarrassed.

Charlie's only response was to shrug.

Stella asked, "What hospital is he at?" "St. Monica's" said Scott.

Just then, Olivia grew pale. She silently retreated from the group.

Stella said, "Even if you leave right now, you'll get there after visiting hours. I can get you in." Everyone looked at Stella with some concern, remembering her sit-in over the removal of the lemonade vending machine. Wen asked, "rebel girl stunt?" Stella replied in shock, "NO! I have a valid 'in' with that hospital. Now, enough chit-chat. Let's get going." Scott continued to protest, and the others continued to shoot down his remarks.

Meanwhile, Wen noticed that Olivia was gone. He went to look for her and found her down the hallway toward their dressing room. She was turned toward the wall, looking like she was trying to hide.

"Olivia, what is it?" She started at the sound of his voice. _Oh great, another moment where he sees me having a pity party and feels obligated to help me._ "I'm fine," she said, but her face was streaked with tears. "You're not fine," said Wen _but you are always so beautiful, even when you're a wreck. How do you do that? _"Please tell me what's going on?" Olivia sighed and came out with it. "St. Monica's was the….last….hospital where my mom stayed. That was the last time I was there. I want to help Scott, but I can't go to that hospital. I just can't." "I'll handle it," said Wen. "Come back with me." She obliged, as he placed his hand on the back of her shoulder to guide her back to the group.

They arrived to more of Scott's protests, "you can't back out of a gig. And we need a manager."

Mo said, "First of all, one of the shows was to open for another band. And the other one was a CD signing. We will tell them it's a family emergency. They won't miss us in the first show, and we'll ask the record store if we can re-schedule the CD signing. If we can't, we'll play that show. It's a full week away. As for the manager,"

Wen interrupted, "Olivia and I will stay here to interview managers. My dad and Sidney will help." Wen's dad was an attorney specialized in contract language, and Sidney was a CPA (art was her escape from the stress of that career). In fact, they met at a conference on the fiscal aspect of negotiating entertainment contracts.

Stella said, "Well, I guess we have it all covered. So, Charlie, call your mom and let's get back home."

Scott tried one more time to resist their help, "I can't believe all of you would be willing to help like this. Just the thought is very kind. But I'm simply not going to let you. I can take care of this situation. And it's just too much to ask you to help someone who has not exactly been your number one fan. Thanks, but no thanks."

Stella replied, "Cute speech Scott. But you don't really have a choice here. That song, 'More Than a Band', isn't just a slow-jam cleverly put in a waltz tempo. It is our way of life. You're in this band, you're in this friendship. Conversation over. Charlie, what've you got?"

"She can book us on a flight that leaves in 2 hours, so we need to pack and get to the airport right away, in order to get through security."

"All right, then, off we go," and with that Stella ran down the hallway to their dressing room to gather the last of their belongings before Scott could say another word.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Lemonade Mouth.

Chapter 3

On the airplane, Scott couldn't sit still. He'd get up to get a drink, go to the bathroom, check his luggage in the overhead compartment, etc. Mo couldn't get him to settle down. So, instead, she decided to have a discussion with her father.

She took a deep breath, and she walked over to his seat. "Baba," she began, "Can we talk?"

"Of course, Monu. Are you all right? You needn't worry about your friend. All will work out as it must."

"No, Baba, it's not him," (inwardly laughing at the thought of Ray Beech as her "friend"). "It's about the television show today, about Moxie's mention of Scott."

Mr. Banerjee stiffened, "Yeees?" he asked hesitantly.

"Well, Baba, remember the way that he became part of our band?"

"Yes, Monu. That was very kind of him." "Baba," said Monu, her heart beating a thousand times a minute, "he did that for me. He wanted to show me that he cared about me and that he had changed."

"Changed?" questioned her father. _Oh no, I forgot that he never knew we had dated before! Oh well, best to be all in. _

"Yes, Baba. We were, uh, well, dating. And, well, he hurt my feelings. I told him that he needed to change to earn my trust, and he did. We care for one another. He is kind to me and to my friends, and he is (_how do I tell my father that there's nothing physical to worry about?)_ respectful (_that's it!)_ toward me."

Mo's father was silent, thinking over everything that his daughter had said. He did not like the idea of her being romantically involved, but there needed to be a time to begin letting her make her own decisions. Clearly, she had handled herself well with this boy by insisting he improve himself for her. And he did show it in a very large way. "Yes, Monu, you have shown me that you can be trusted to start making your decisions. As long as your respect for your family is not diminished by this….friendship (he just couldn't bring himself to say "relationship"; that would have to come with time)…then I give you my permission."

"Thank-you, Baba! I love you!" He did not give his blessing, but permission was a **huge** win for Mo.

By the time they landed, it was 3:00 AM. On the shuttle, Scott fell asleep immediately after turning his phone back on. It buzzed furiously with several missed texts. Mo decided to check them. They were all from Jules.

Mo kept her temper in check as she read them. All of them were explaining Ray's status, what room he was in, and still no way to contact his parents. Mo decided to reply.

"Jules, it's Mo. Scott's asleep. We've just landed and are on our way."

Jules' reply: "Well they won't let you in. It's past visiting hours."

Mo: "Stella says she has an in."

Jules: "This isn't the time for Little Rebel Girl's stunts."

Mo: "This also isn't the time for fighting. Just truce for now, k?"

Jules: "k"

On the shuttle, they decided that just Scott and Stella would go to the hospital. Charlie would go directly home in order to start looking at cruise rosters (his mother had left him the access code). Mo would go home with her father (this was a big night for reveals, and she did not want to push the envelope with him).

Stella and Scott were deposited at the main entrance to the hospital. They waved tiredly at their friends as the shuttle pulled away.

They turned around to face the hospital. Unintentionally in unison, they took a breath.

"All right, let's go," said Stella.


	4. Chapter 4

**OK, here's some Wen/Olivia satisfaction!**

I do not own Lemonade Mouth.

Chapter 4

Back in New York…

"And here's your room," these were Wen's first words after the quiet and awkward cab ride. _It doesn't seem right to declare my undying like for her after we've sent our best friends to help our enemy in the hospital. That's just a little creepy._

Olivia thought otherwise. _Could you even try to make a move? It seems like this would be a good time: in front of my room, no interruptions, we're all weary and raw from such a strange night…_ Olivia was certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that Wen had no feelings for her. She just didn't want to hear him say it out loud. She would have to beat him to the punch.

"Wen, thank-you for helping me cover for Mo this afternoon. You are a kind friend."

"But, Olivia, I…"

"Good night!" and with that, she quickly closed her hotel room door. On the other side, she breathed a sigh of relief. It pained her that he had no interest in her, and it embarrassed her that he pitied her, but at least she escaped The Talk. Having to actually hear him say out loud that he liked her "as a friend" would have been too much.

_What in the world just happened? _Wen stood outside of Olivia's room, staring at the door. He wondered if perhaps her feeling for him had waned. Or maybe "I did it for you" meant something else? No, that was pretty clear. She at least had feelings for him at one point in time. Where did they go? _She saw what a coward you are, and she lost interest, as well as respect._

The next day, Wen and Olivia were scheduled to meet with Wen's dad and Sidney to discuss managers. Mr. Gifford's law firm had an office in New York City, and so they were going to use it to go over resumes and hold interviews.

On their way, they were both far too excited about having a manager – _a manager! – _to think about their situation, or rather lack thereof.

"I cannot believe this!" said Olivia. "We for-reals need a _manager_!"

"That makes us pretty big-time, doesn't it?" said Wen, practically bouncing as they walked.

Just then, two girls about their age approached them.

"Aren't you from Lemonade Mouth?" they asked. They had British accents.

"Um," said Olivia. "YES, yes we are!" said Wen at the same time.

"OMIGOD! We. LOVE. You!" "OMIGOD OMIGOD OMIGOD OMIGOD! Can we get a picture with you?"

"Of course!" said Wen.

Olivia said, "How about I take it, and that way both of you can be in it?" Olivia was still reluctant about fame. She loved to sing, and she was finally able to conquer stage fright, but it was because she went to great lengths to prepare herself before each performance. Fame was like being put on stage at completely random moments, with no time to steel yourself.

One of the Gushing Brits replied, "That would be BRILLIANT!"

While one girl showed Olivia how to work her camera, the other girl stood with Wen. She reached up and touched his hair. "I just LOVE gingers!" Wen raised a questioning eyebrow and looked at Olivia. She knew what he was trying to ask her, so she answered, "It's British for red-head." "Oh! Uh, thank-you?" The girl giggled. Olivia used every ounce of strength she had to not roll her eyes. _This is terrific; I don't get to be with him, AND I get to watch groupies fawn all over him._

She gave the three count, and on "3", both girls stood up on tippy toes, and kissed Wen on his cheeks. Olivia nearly dropped the camera. She wanted to throw it at them. _Did they not watch us on Moxie's show yesterday, or do they simply not care that I'm – as far as they're concerned – Wen's 'girl'?_

After the Gushing Brits scampered off, Olivia picked up her pace.

"Hey, Olivia, wait up," called Wen.

"We're late. That little encounter took time out of our schedule."

"We're not late, we're fine! Wait up."

She had to keep walking as quickly as possible. Concentrating on not bumping into people would calm her nerves and keep her from getting weepy. Wen loped behind her, trying to catch up.

When they reached the building, there was a check-in desk with a security guard. He was young, no older than 19, and very attractive. He was tall, slender but fit, with dark hair, blue eyes, and a lovely smile. Olivia discovered that last one when he greeted her.

"Can I help you?" And there was the smile.

"We're here to see Dennis Gifford."

"We?" Cute Security Guard asked. Olivia looked around. Wen apparently had fallen a bit behind.

"Oh, he must have gotten sidetracked. He should be here any moment."

"OK, then let's go ahead and wait for him." And there was the smile again. Olivia wasn't terribly experienced in these things, but that smile seemed slightly friendlier than usual for a security guard.

"Are you visiting New York, or do you live here?" ACK! Small talk. Olivia was _terrible_ at this kind of thing. But just then, she saw Wen outside the window, and she got up her nerve for chit-chat with a stranger. _A super cute stranger. I can't make Wen jealous, but at least he can see that I'm not a total loser._

"I'm here to visit. My band had a couple of gigs here, and we're trying to square away the incredibly dull business end of it all. Do you live in Manhatten, or do you commute?"

"I'm going to Columbia. I live in the dorms. Did you say band? What do you play?"

"I'm the lead singer. I sometimes play bass."

By this point, Wen had entered the building and in fact was standing right next to Olivia. They ignored him.

"Ah, the front man! I wonder what you say when the front man is a woman? And bass, huh? There's nothin' cuter than a girl bass player. Here you are, already pretty darned cute anyway, and you have to add the 'girl bass player' factor. How long are you in town."

"Well, we_"

Wen interrupted, "We leave at the end of the week."

"That's too bad." At that point, Wen put his arm around Olivia's shoulder, to which Cute Security Guard said, "And that is also too bad, for me. You are one lucky man! Mr. Gifford is in suite 824. I'll ring them to let them know you're on your way up. "And you," he said to Olivia, "just let me know when you're single…"

"As a matter of fact, I…" Wen dragged her away.

At the elevator, Wen angrily stabbed the call button.

"Olivia, what is your problem?" he demanded.

"What are you talking about?" she asked innocently. _NO! We have to have The Talk. I so do not want this conversation. All right, just get it over with._

"Oh come on! After you take a picture of our fans, you totally bolt (and I hope they didn't see that and blog about it, by the way). I couldn't keep up with you on these crowded streets. And then when I get here, you're suddenly Miss Leisurely Conversation with a total moron."

"He goes to Columbia. He's not a moron." she defended.

"If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were flirting with him."

"WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES THAT MAKE TO YOU?" _All right, pal. You want The Talk, you'll get it. _"It was just a casual conversation. I'm just your friend. You have no holding over me. Furthermore, what do you mean by 'if I didn't know you better'? Do I not seem capable of flirting to you? Am I that naïve? Just because you've comforted me on several occasions, that doesn't mean that I'm a child who needs looking after. Or is it that you can't possibly fathom that anyone male would find me attractive? That's pretty low. You should better support your friends, Wen."

"For one thing, you're not 'just my friend.' You're my best friend. But that's beside the point."

_Best friend? _Olivia had never thought about it, since she had had so few friends in her life, but she thought that perhaps Wen was her best friend, too.

"For another thing, where in the world did you get that I think of you as a child? You have had too much life alone to realize what friendship entails. Friends look out for each other. And friends – like you – call each other to the carpet."

_Oh yeah, I did kinda do that. _She thought of the day of the RIZ-ing Star competition, when she lit into a tirade telling Wen to stop feeling sorry for himself.

"And finally, as for finding you attractive," _it's now or never, Gifford. You've stalled for far too long. You have to have this out for once and for all, for better or for worse. Even if she doesn't have feelings for you anymore, she deserves to hear the truth from you. _

And then their elevator stopped at their floor.

"NO! Absolutely not!" Wen pushed the "close door" button. And then he pushed the buttons for all the floors, to buy them time.

He turned to Olivia. "Enough. I don't care if we spend the rest of the day in this elevator. I don't care how many people flood in and out of it. I need to tell you this." He walked toward the corner where she was standing. He stood directly in front of her, and he lowered his head as close to her face as possible, to make sure she could clearly hear him.

"Olivia White, you are, hands down, the prettiest girl I have ever seen in my life. I've been a total idiot to not tell you this earlier, to not tell you every day that I have known you. And on top of that, you are kind and incredibly strong. I am the weakling; I should never have left you in the lurch yesterday. I should have been the one to jump in and say, 'Moxie, I'm crazy about Olivia.'"

"Oh?" Olivia said in a very small voice.

"Yeah." he said, equally quietly. Then, he put his hand on her cheek. He lowered his face closer to hers, and he looked in her eyes. They were so beautiful, and full of the kind of depth a person her age shouldn't have, a depth that comes from a lifetime of sorrow. But this also gives a person like her a much greater capacity to love, once love comes into her life.

Wen had never seen Olivia that closely before. He knew that it would be a short trip to fall for her.

Olivia had looked at Wen frequently, but they were quick and hidden glances. Right now, she got to just stare at him. He was just so handsome. He was a boy and a man all at once. And she recognized the look in his eyes: it mirrored the way she felt about him. _Please please kiss me!_

He stepped in closer. His other hand reached up, held her other cheek, and tilted her head up to him. She waited patiently. He leaned forward, and he kissed her, gentle but intense.

"Oh." she said.

His hands still framing her face, Wen spoke quietly but clearly, "I promise you, I will not _ever_ make that mistake again. I assume that whatever you may have felt for me before is gone, from sheer shame of my cowardice. But if it isn't, and in case I do have a chance, I vow that I will be the most obnoxiously proud boyfriend anyone has ever seen."

"OK" was all she could say. Her heart and stomach had switched places and had closed up her throat in the process.

"Yeah?" he asked. _Is this really happening? Hurrah for me, I didn't completely screw it up!_

"Yeah." she managed to breathe out. And she smiled.

Wen was over the moon. _There's that smile, and it's for me!_

He leaned in and kissed her again, this time with all the intensity of a young man falling in love. Olivia reached up and wrapped her arms around him, holding him as strongly as she could. Time stood still.

After who knows how long, Olivia spoke. "Um, Wen?" she mumbled into his shoulder.

"Yes?" He could barely hear her over the sound of everything inside of him taking up residence elsewhere within him.

"I think we missed our appointment with your dad."


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for the reviews! This chapter's a long one, but it's the route it had to take. Not a ton of action, but more background that seemed to make sense to me about the characters. **

I do not own "Lemonade Mouth", but seriously mad props to Mark Peter Hughes, who does.

Chapter 5

As Scott walked toward the main entrance to the hospital, Stella walked toward the Emergency Room entrance.

"That part is closed during off hours. We go in through the E.R." He followed her.

When they entered the emergency room, Stella walked directly to the nurse at the check-in counter.

"Hi, Lorraine."

"Stella! It is so good to see you, hon! The kids have missed you." The woman was in her late 50's, with ash blonde hair pulled back and up in a clip. "We all watched you on TV yesterday. You were beautiful! And so much poise!"

"Yeah, well, that's me: poise in the face of total social awkwardness," Stella replied, referring to the stammered Mo/Scott/Mr. Banerjee/Olivia/Wen exchange on Moxie's show. "Did the kids get to see it?"

"Of course! We had to wheel in the big-screen for it. And all the staff kept ducking in as often as possible." Lorraine smiled at the memory. "What did you bring for them this time? Cooper's been pestering me every day."

"I got Cooper's requisite stickers, of course, and an insane pile of postcards for everyone else. I think we'll wallpaper when I go visit…"

Lorraine giggled. Then, she seemed to realize the time, "Wait a second. What in the world are you doing here at this hour?"

Stella motioned to Scott. He was about 5 feet behind her, completely stunned by this conversation. If it were a cartoon, his eyes would be popped out of their sockets, and his chin would be on the ground, flies buzzing in and out of his mouth. Instead, his eyes were as wide as Stella had ever seen them.

"That is my friend, Scott." "Ah, yes, the one who played with your band when everyone else was injured." Lorraine gave Scott a warm smile. Scott could not reply. Thankfully, his hand instinctively went up on its own in a weak wave.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, hon." said Lorraine.

"So," continued Stella, "As it turns out, his best friend was in a car accident earlier this evening."

"OH, the blonde boy and his sister! I checked them in."

"Yes, them. Well, as it turns out, Scott would like to see him. And well, I was hoping you'd let us…"

"Stella, sweetie, it's past visiting hours, and – wait a second! Aren't you supposed to be in New York for the rest of the week?" Lorraine looked at Stella's and Scott's weary faces. "Oh, you poor things. You flew home early in order to be with him, didn't you? You cut your tour short to see him?" They weren't about to correct her, as a couple of shows, a CD signing, and a TV interview weren't exactly an official tour. "You must really care about him!"

Stella willed herself to keep a blank facial expression. She couldn't exactly muster agreement, but if she started gagging out loud, Lorraine would never let Scott in.

Scott simply looked as if he were using every ounce of strength to not break down and sob. This nurse looked like she could be anyone's mom, everyone's mom, and a mom's shoulder seemed like a pretty good place to be when your oldest and best friend's life was on the balance, before you've had the chance to clear the air with him over everything…

Lorraine made a decision. "Yes, of course, go on in. He's in room 229."

Stella frowned, "Oh no."

"Just for now. We need to keep him there until he comes to, so that we can see what's what."

"OK."

"One more thing, Stella. Jo's shift is about to start, and she's been on the warpath these days. So make sure the two of you stay away from her."

Joanna was the queen of law and order. Every rule must be followed to the letter because "an orderly hospital is an effective hospital."

"Got it!" said Stella with a little salute, "Stay away from Sgt. Jo. Thanks a bunch, Lorraine! I owe you."

"Just get over to the little ones as soon as possible, ok? That will be thanks enough." was Lorraine's reply.

"Done!" said Stella. She headed toward the staircase (she avoided elevators as much as possible, especially when she'd just spend several hours cooped up on an airplane).

When she got to the door, she turned to find Scott several yards behind her. She waited for him to catch up.

When he did, he finally found his voice. "What. Was that?"

Stella couldn't help but smile a little bit in pride. She put on her best nonchalant shrug. "I told you I had an 'in' here."

Scott tried to not become exasperated. "OK, Miss Mysterious. Can we share with the rest of the class now?"

"My dad is a medical researcher, specialized in cancer research. He works in the lab here."

"There's a lab here?"

"Yeah, and when I was growing up, I always HATED daycare. And, well, I was frequently invited to leave the nursery schools."

Scott had no problem picturing Stella as a mini hellion, wearing down babysitter after babysitter.

"In desperation one day, Dad brought me to the hospital where he was working. He noticed that I had a way with the hospital nurses. So, wherever we've lived, Dad always made sure he could work in a lab near or in a hospital. I practically grew up in them."

Scott grimaced. "That sounds ghastly. All that tragedy and illness. And that awful smell."

Stella shrugged, this time genuinely. "I don't even notice the smell. And yes, except for the maternity ward, it is tragedy that brings everyone here. But the way I see it, if there's any hope of their lives getting better, it's here."

"What was that bit about Cooper and stickers and wallpaper?"

"OH! Well, my favorite place to hang out is the children's ward. It also keeps me on the staff's good side. The kids are a blast. Since they can't get out, I bring 'out' to them. Cooper collects stickers, so I'm always on the search for unusual ones for him."

Scott absorbed it all as they climbed the stairs. He wondered if anyone else knew about this whole other side to Stella. She was always berating herself for her academic struggles. And yet, she was definitely the bravest of all of them. And he was beginning to see that Stella Yamada was the most thoughtful person he had ever known.

The first time in Scott's life that he had thought of someone other than himself was at the RIZ-ing Star competition, when he went on stage to play with Lemonade Mouth, so that they wouldn't completely die on stage. At first, he had done it to make the Grand Gesture needed to win Mo back. But the grateful look on Stella's face, combined with the sound of the entire theater singing "Determinate", made him stop thinking of Mo entirely. He only felt _happy, _no other emotion. He had always loved playing with Mudslide Crush, but it was a different feeling, the rush of being a performer and a superstar guitarist (well, superstar in their high school). Hearing the audience sing opened his eyes to the rest of the school for the first time. Lemonade Mouth was not only incredibly musically talented, but they represented something more to their peers. They were a voice to the socially muted.

Scott had never intended to be a part of the oppressive high school hierarchy, but truth be told, he was perfectly happy with being at the top of it. Hehad never liked the way that Ray bullied everyone around him, but he also never felt the need to stop Ray. He figured, if people didn't like the way Ray treated them, then they could stop him themselves. It never once occurred to Scott that his self-confidence was a gift that was a total happy accident of his genetic construction, like his eye color or height. It had never occurred to him that not everyone had that confidence, and that, to some people, a person like Ray Beech was as terrifying as any horror movie monster.

Standing on that stage with Lemonade Mouth, he finally got it. Scott _saw_ all those students, _his peers,_ who had previously been invisible to him: the un-athletic, the socially awkward, the physically distorted (man, puberty could be so cruel on some people), the people with unconventional interests (who plays chess on purpose when there's a perfectly good soccer field, right outside?). Scott felt the weight of the thoughtless and irresponsible person that he had been.

Those 2 minutes shifted something inside of Scott forever. Even though it was a selfish motivation that pushed him on stage at first, by the end of the song, he was a changed man. It lit up a part of his soul that he had never known before. And that new part of him, not the action of going onstage, was what changed his heart for Mo. Now, instead of wanting to simply win her back, he just wanted to make her happy. He hoped that he could be the one to do that, but if not being with him was what brought Mo joy, then Scott could live with that. That she did choose to take him back made him ecstatic, but he worked tirelessly to keep her happy.

It was a joy to be invited to join Lemonade Mouth permanently. He not only respected them as musicians, but he admired them as people. Scott knew that he was a great guitarist, and that he matched their musical skills,to say the least. However, the true honor was that they thought highly enough of him as a _human being _to get to join their ranks.

"Here we are," said Stella, breaking Scott from his reverie.

"Wait a second," he said, suddenly remembering something. "What was that 'oh' of doom when you heard his room number?"

"Oh, it's the ICU," then, to his confused facial expression. "Intensive Care Unit. Don't you ever watch medical dramas?"

Scott suddenly looked worried again. Stella quickly said, "You heard Lorraine. He's here because he's unconscious. And depending on the severity of his injuries, they may be keeping him pretty doped up, which tends to keep him unconscious. Typically, they slowly lift the pain meds until he wakes up, and then they can assess his stability, which will decide where he goes to recover."

"Thank-you, Dr. Yamada." said Scott, trying to insert some kind of levity to this awful situation.

Stella scowled. "Dr. Yamada is my dad. What I just said to you is the extent of my medical knowledge. Let's not forget that darling little D that I'm earning in biology."

"OK," said Scott. "This is his room? All right. Let's go in." But he wasn't moving.

"Come on, Scott. This is the worst that he'll look. He'll only get better from her. It's best to just get the initial shock over with. We didn't fly all the way home from New York in the middle of the night to have you stand and stare at a door."

Her words were commanding, but her tone was kind. Stella had seen more than her fair share of frightened loved ones in hospitals. She wanted to embrace and console all of them. They were actually a big part of why she was such a dedicated musician: playing guitar was her escape from all of the sorrows of the world. Making music – whether beautiful, or angry, or exciting, or calm – helped Stella to take leave of the world, take a mini mental holiday, and come back to earth – and to herself – again.

Scott nodded vigorously to Stella's words, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

And then he gasped.

Ray Beech – healthy, strong, menacing Ray Beech – was a limp, lifeless ragdoll, tiny in the vastness of the white hospital bed. His right arm was completely bandaged, down to the fingertips. There was a tube coming out of his neck, in addition to an IV connected to his left arm, and another tube came out from some body part under the blanket. He was like some kind of macabre marionette. His face was nearly unrecognizable: the parts that were not bandaged were either all the shades from blue to purple, or the grey-to-white range. If it weren't for the steady beeping of the heart monitor, it would be difficult to tell if he were alive.

"Oh, good, he's not on breath support," said Stella.

"Huh?"

"Look," she said, pointing to the part of the blanket under which was Ray's chest.

"What am I looking at?" asked Scott, anger in his voice from the frustration of feeling so helpless in the sight of his best friend in this state.

"Keep watching. Look, there it goes: up, then down. He's breathing on his own. That's a good sign."

"What are you talking about? What kind of lame 'good sign' is that? LOOK at him!" said Scott.

"Scott, you need to calm down. The most important thing to know when you see someone here is that looks can be deceiving. Bruises outside could be totally superficial. On the other hand, someone who may look perfectly all right might be totally destroyed on the inside. The main thing to worry about is if his internal organs are injured. If he's breathing on his own, then that means that his lungs are ok."

"Well said, Stella," said a man's voice from behind them, startling Scott and almost making him jump.

"Hey, Dr. G!" said Stella, with a big smile for the man.

He was somewhere in his 60's, with salt-and-pepper hair and a beard. He was around Scott's height, but even if he weren't tall, he would be intimidating. Though he had a friendly expression in his eyes, this man was clearly used to being in charge.

"Scott, this is Dr. Grauman, my dad' s boss. Dr. G, this is Scott Pickett. He's Ray's best friend."

"Thank goodness! Not finding his parents has been a real worry. This kid is going to need to see a friendly face when he comes to." He turned to Scott. "You got yourself tangled up with the right crowd in this one," he said, gesturing to Stella. "She's one in a million, that one. She's the only person I know who can gate-crash the 'family-only' policy in the ICU. And she's the only one whom I would ever let get away with calling me 'Dr. G'." He said the nickname with great disgust, but he smiled at Stella right afterward. "And that's only because I know she's going to eventually run this place and be my boss!"

"Sure, doc. You know I wouldn't last a single day of med school. I'm a disaster as a student."

Dr. Grauman leaned in conspiratorially to Stella and said quietly, "That's only because you'd be the smartest one there, and we egg-heads have no patience for foolishness." She rolled her eyes, but she also smiled. She was happy that such a brilliant man thought well of her.

"Dr. G, what in the world are you doing here?" The researchers didn't typically work hospital shifts.

"Oh, I occasionally take a rotation. It reminds me to keep the people in the forefront of my research, and not the creatures in the microscope." At that, he went about checking Ray, his charts, the machinery, and the bandages. Then, he wrote some notes on a chart and took leave of Stella and Scott.

But before he left, Scott remembered to ask, "Doctor?"

"Yes, son?"

"How is Amanda?"

"Amanda? Ah, yes, the other one in the accident. Her i.d. said she had the same last name and address as your friend here, so I assume she's his sister?"

"Yes, sir."

"She'll be just fine. The air bag broke her nose and one of her ribs. And she got very upset when she saw her brother. We gave her something to help her sleep and calm her nerves, and we and kept her for the night, just to make sure there aren't any internal injuries. She's in room 173-A."

Scott scanned Stella to check her reaction. She looked calm, therefore he assumed there was no "oh" of doom connected to room 173-A, and that Amanda really was ok.

"I'll see you later, kids. And remember, steer clear of Jo! I like to avoid locking heads with that one as much as possible."

"No problem, Dr. G. Thanks! And about his parents, we're working on finding them."

Without even turning to face her, Dr. Grauman said as he left, "I knew you were, Stella."

After Dr. Grauman left, Stella turned to Scott. He had already approached the bed and was studying every feature of his friend, looking for what? Perhaps he hoped for some kind of sign that Ray really was in there somewhere.

Suddenly, Scott stood bold upright. "Ray's mom can't see him like this!" Scott sounded panicked.

"Yeah, it's hard on moms, I've noticed," replied Stella.

"No, Stella, you don't understand. Ray's mom is incredibly, what's the word his dad uses? Delicate. She could completely fall apart at even the slightest mention that one of her children might be hurt. His dad has always constantly been on Ray's case to not worry his mother." He paced. "Oh man, she's gonna freak. Both of her children. And Ray this bad off. This is really bad Stella. His dad's gonna kill him."

"OK, Scott? Now you've gone koo-koo bananas here. I'm pretty sure Ray's dad will not kill Ray. And there's nothing we can do about his mom."

Scott had an idea. "I think that if I can get some of his own things, like pajamas and a blanket, that might help make him look a little more like him.

"Good thinking!" Stella was impressed. "But how will you get to, and into, his house?"

"I'll take a cab. And I know how to break in. We've done it countless times, whenever we broke curfew."

"Uh, how about we don't risk an arrest record?" said Stella. She walked over to a cabinet next to Ray's bed and pulled out a plastic bag labeled "Personal Effects". She rummaged through the bag and then said, "Eureka!" She tossed a set of keys to Scott.

"Thanks," said Scott. And he started to walk out.

"Wait a second," said Stella. "What about…?" and she nodded her chin at Ray. She was beginning to feel the exhaustion of the all-nighter, and though he was unconscious, she did not wish to be alone in a room with Ray freakin' Beech.

"Stella," said Scott, "he _can't _wake up alone." Stella couldn't stop herself from thinking, _what his mother doesn't know won't hurt her._ Intelligently, she stopped herself from saying it out loud. There was an urgency in Scott's voice that she decided not to fight. There was something more that he wasn't telling her. Stella guessed that this had nothing to do with the "delicate" mother. She wondered if maybe there was an issue with Ray himself.

Regardless of Ray or his delicate mother, the fact of the matter was that Stella still owed Scott big time for his heroics at RIZ-ing Star. As a fellow guitarist, and as the only able-bodied member of Lemonade Mouth that day, Stella felt a kindrid connection to Scott. And she admired him: he had been a selfish boy who became a thoughtul young man that night. So much change at once needed to be nurtured, and any kindness that he was willing to perform had to be supported. Besides, he totally bailed her out that night, and she figured if she could do this favor for him now, she could restore balance in their lives.

"All right, I'll stay with him."

"Thanks, Stella. I owe you."

"Oh, no you don't. We're totally even stevens."

Scott smiled and then left.

And now Stella was alone. With Ray. Ray Freakin' Beech.

Now that all of the drama had died down, that all the necessary decisions had been made and everything that could be done was being done, Stella had time to think. Unfortunately. Until now, she had been completely in "help Scott" mode, shoving out of her head the person who was the vehicle for all this help. And now there he was, his broken body in front of her. Ray Beech.

Stella tended to be a passionate person, and it was true that almost everything in her life fell into one of 2 categories: love and hate. Love her brothers (even though they're obnoxious). Hate meat. Love music. Hate baggy jeans. Love "the kiddos" (her term of endearment for the patients in the children's ward). Hate animal cruelty. Very few things fell into the range in between the two extremes. That being said, of all the people that Stella knew personally (so, leaving oppressive world leaders out of the mix), the one she hated absolutely most of all was Ray Beech. He made it his personal mission to make her life a living hell since the moment she first set foot on their high school campus. "Check out the new kid!" he'd said, and then proceded to circle her and give her the once-over, over and over again (thus, making it more of a stare-fest than a "once"-over?). He had some little comment for every outfit she wore, and nearly every Monday, her locker frequently smelled ghastly, usually from rotten lunch meat that was pushed through the slats over the weekend.

Ray was cruel to people unnecesarily, but he made it a particularly joy-filled sport to seek out the weak. Every Mesa High School student's daily quest was to stay away from Ray Beech. And because he was incredibly skilled at _everything _ he did – soccer, music, academics, and he was good-looking (_if you're into that sort of look_) – Ray had no weak point where someone else could supercede him. If he weren't such a viscious beast, he would be highly admired, beyond the Pretty People circle, his peers and the only people who enjoyed being around him.

Stella had no patience for unkind people in general. But those who preyed on the weak made her blood boil to no end. She could put up with his pathetic attempts to annoy her. But whenever she saw him corner some kid who hadn't hit his growth spurt yet, or shout harmful nicknames at each of the girls who walked past him in the quad, Stella wanted to commit violent crimes on him. However, she had to keep out of trouble, as a deal she'd made with her mother in gratitude for not being punished when they were arrested during her Great Lemonade Machine Protest. So, she found subtle ways to subterfuge Ray's dirty work. Somehow a piece of furniture would find its way directly behind him while he backed away from the freshman he had pushed into the corner. Or a handful of blue goop (that was coincidentally Stella brothers'prize-winning invention) would come out of nowhere and land square on his face after he'd shout, "What's up, Metal Mouth?" to some poor girl in braces.

Stella smiled briefly at the memory. Then she looked at Ray in his bed and let out a long sigh. She wanted him to get better. Rather, she wanted his body to heal, but unfortunately there was no "getting better" for Ray Beech. He was the devil's minion, that is, if he even had enough of a soul for the devil to want it.

High school was difficult enough as it Ray Beech was the one who single-handedly made it a living nightmare for most of the student body.

And speak of the devil, or at least his minion, Ray started to stir a bit. In fact, it looked quite like he was opening his eyes.

Ray felt as if he weighed ten thousand tons. It was an enormous effort just to open his eyes. He also had no idea where he was, home probably. No, there were sounds and a smell that he didn't recognize. When he did open his eyes, well, eye, one of them didn't want to open, everything was blurry. He blinked (_or is it winking when it's just one eye? _Strange thoughts occur to one at strange times.). The world started to focus, but it made no more sense then when it was blurry.

What was the last thing he remembered? Party. Amanda drunk, again. Driving home. Idiot turning left in front of them. Brakes locking. Crash/Amanda's scream/deafening blast of the air bag, all at the same time. Then, silence and darkness.

He was in a hospital room. And he was apparently hallucinating. That was the only reasonable explanation for the sight of Stella Yamada sitting in his room. Or worse. He was about to be punished by God for all the bad things he'd done in life.

"Have I…" he croaked. What was that? Was that _his _voice? Ray was the Golden Throat behind Mudslide Crush. That croak was not his voice. And why was it so enormously difficult to speak? He tried again, and with herculian effort, he finished his sentence.

"Have I died and gone to Hell?" Then, a ferocious wave of pain washed over him. He was awake just long enough to hear Stella's reply.

"No, sweetie. I have."


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Lemonade Mouth. Mark Peter Hughes and Disney do, because they're rad.

Chapter 6

Stella pushed the call button for a nurse, and then she texted Scott and the rest of the band: _Ray woke up. _She was about to also call Scott, to make sure he got the message, when Joanna, Ray's nurse, came in.

"Stella, dear! What brings you here? Are you a member of this boy's family?"

"No, Jo, I'm not. But.."

"Now, dear, you know the visitor rules for the ICU: family only." She was checking all of Ray's vitals while she spoke. As obnoxious as Jo's whip-cracking was, especially how she delivered all the rules with that false-sweet tone of voice, she was a great nurse. Stella was confident that Ray was in good care.

"His parents are out of town, and no one can find them. His sister was also in the accident, and she's in room 173-A. So, he doesn't have anyone to visit him right now."

"Stella, dear, you know the rules. And just because your father is on a high-tier research team here, that doesn't put you above the rules." Stella noted the slight bitterness in Jo's saccharine overdrive voice. _Social hierarchies and the resentment of them isn't just a high school thing, is it?_ Well, at least in this case, her father was brilliant and had earned his position fair and square.

Jo wasn't budging, and Stella, being as tired as she was, didn't have the patience to sweet-talk the nurse this morning. She had to bring out the big guns.

"Well, Jo, Dr. Grauman said that Ray needed to see a friendly face when he woke up." _Jo did not need to know who was and who was not a "friendly face" to Ray Beech._ And just for good measure, Stella added, "He said it was vital to Ray's recovery. So, until we find his parents…I'm afraid I'll have to sub in as family."

Jo dropped all pretense of politeness. She scowled. "Well, we'll just have to see about that." Stella knew that there was no way Jo was going to interrupt Dr. G's workday with this ridiculous query. "For now, I'm too busy to continue this conversation. I've just called in the doctor on rotation, and he and I will have to do some work here. You will need to go to the waiting room."

The doctor came in, and he and Jo started in on discussing Ray's situation, saying things that sailed right over Stella's head. She called it "medical mumbo-jumbo," and though it was all in English, it may as well have been Hindi for all she understood. The little bit she did know was from the painstaking efforts of Lorraine and the nurses in the children's ward, people who were infinitely more patient than the rest of humanity. Jo tossed a glare over her shoulder at Stella and said, "Stella, dear, go get yourself a nice glass of water."

Stella went to the waiting room. She curled up on a couch and found a magazine to flip through. The words were soon blurry and, before she knew it, Stella was asleep.

"Hey, Stell, hey, wake up." Scott was shaking her shoulder. She sat up and asked, "How long have I been asleep?"

"I guess maybe a half hour, based on when you sent the text." He stood over her, a backpack slung over his shoulder.

"So, Ray woke up?"

"Yeah, but then he went back to sleep. And then they needed to examine him, so Jo sent me here. Scott, I don't know how I'm going to get you past Jo. She was pretty furious at the sight of me there, and I had to resort to name-dropping to get her to back off. There's no way she'll let you in."

"We'll figure something out. There are a few more things that I have to take care of. So, if she'll only let you in anyway, you can go back, and I'll then take care of the other stuff."

"Like what?" asked Stella. She was not looking forward to more alone time with Ray, and she was pretty sure that her presence was detrimental to his health (she had to admit that the evil part of her liked having that kind of power).

"I need to check on Amanda, for one thing. And I need to get a hold of Charlie to see if he's found their parents."

"Oh, all right. You take care of the Amanda situation. I'll take care of the Charlie situation. If Ray is unconscious, there's nothing to do but sit there. And even if he does wake up, he can't…" she stopped. She forgot to tell Scott about the whole voice thing.

"He can't what? What are you not telling me, Stella?"

"Well, when he woke up, he tried to talk, and his voice was all croaky and gasp-y. He sounded like the kids who have to have trach tubes. It disrupts their normal vocal cord functions, and so they struggle to speak."

"Oh man, I hope that's temporary. Ray has to be able to speak, he has to be able to sing. Music is his life."

Insanely tired from the all-nighter which included a plane ride, Stella had reached the end of her attempts to not bad-mouth Ray in front of Scott. "Really? Because I thought that torturing the weak was his life, and music was a pastime." She was happy to help Scott, but cutting short their Great New York Trip was more than a slight disappointment.

However, she immediately regretted letting that bile slip. "I'm sorry, Scott. I'm over-tired, and I know you're worried. I'll find out as much as I can about his status."

Scott replied, "No, you're right. I'm in freak-out overdrive. And yeah, the ugly side tends to be Ray's most often-seen side."

Again, Stella couldn't help herself, "He has other sides?" And then, "Sorry. I promise I'll stop that."

"Believe it or not," said Scott, "he does. He's just managed to hide them over time."

One day, she would get this secret story out of Scott. But she feared that today would not be that day. Stella stood up, and she walked back to Ray's room.

As she walked out of the waiting room, she was greeted by the Pretty People. Rather, she was assaulted by a balloon bouquet. Stella parted the balloons and got a visual on Jules, Patty, and some other girls that Stella did not know but who were too well-constructed to _not _be cheerleaders. Behind the Beautiful Girls were the other members of Mudslide Crush, and some athletic-looking boys that Stella could only guess were members of the soccer team.

Patty talked over Stella (as if she were invisible) to Scott. "How is he, Scotty? Have you seen him? Can we go see him?"

Stella attempted to reply, "He's in the IC…."

Patty wrinkled her nose at Stella, as if she were shocked that a cockroach could speak. "Scotty?"

Scott was embarrassed and appalled at Patty's behavior. He said, "Actually, Stella is the one who…"

Patty gave Stella another disgusted-by-the-cockroach look and continued to talk to Scott. "When can we see him?"

Stella shrugged and made her way past the crowd and back into Ray's room.

There are no two ways about it: those people were vile. For the life of her, Stella could not understand how it was that simple DNA – no talent or skill whatsoever – bestowing someone physical beauty somehow gave them the right to be unkind, or simply not even try to be a decent human being. _How does a complete accident of birth give people social royalty? _It's not that Stella wanted to be queen of the school, but it would be nice to see what it was like to have an easy time of fitting in, and not have to fight and prove herself over and over and over again, day in and day out. Being a rock star was pretty sweet, she had to admit, but she had to _work_ to get here: practice guitar, create good music with her band, practice some more, acquire and play gigs, and practice even more. These people – Patty, Jules, Ray, even Scott – just walk into any room or onto any campus, and within minutes they're the lions on the food chain. And generally, they behaved as if they belonged there. The kind ones were few and far between, usually people who had some kind of talent that they had to work at, or people who had some kind of struggle elsewhere in their lives. But when you're simply pretty, Stella guessed that you never had to work on a personality, or compassion, or intellect, or conversation skills, or even common courtesy.

When Stella got into Ray's room, she saw some improvement in him. The tubes from under the blanket and in his neck were gone, his breathing looked like real sleeping and not creepy unconscious sleeping, the swelling had gone down some in his right eye, and there was a tiny bit of pink in the grey parts of his face.

She took her seat in the chair that was against the wall at the foot of his bed, and she got to work at contacting Charlie. NO CELL PHONES signs abounded in the hospital, and she didn't want to get on anyone's bad side, particularly Jo. So, she texted. It was easier to hide.

Stella: Anything?

Charlie: No. I have searched through all the cruise rosters that my mom has access to, and there are no couples with the last name of Beech.

Stella: So, are there rosters that your mom does not have access to?

Charlie: Just one, Azure. They only allow direct bookings, no travel agents.

Stella: Do they have an office here?

Charlie: Yeah, I'll go right now.

Stella: Thanks, Charlie!

Just then, Mo called. "Hi Stella. I'm about to come to the hospital. Do you need anything?"

Stella replied, "No thanks. But could you go with Charlie on his mission? I think he'll need some help."

"Sure!"

She hung up, and then she texted Charlie to wait for Mo. She hit send, looked up, and found Ray glaring at her.

"Good morning, Merry Sunshine!" Stella said.

Ray opened his mouth to speak, but Stella stopped him. "Ah ah ah. Mustn't speak. If you speak, your voice will never heal, and we can't have Mudslide Crush lose its golden throat, can we?"

He closed his mouth and glowered, as close as one can glower with a face nearly entirely under bandages.

Stella brought him up to speed. "I can't keep you in the dark. That seems unnecessarily cruel, even when it's you. According to my excellent eavesdropping skills and what little I can read from medical charts, this is what I know. First of all, you were in a car accident."

_No kidding. As it turns out, I was there. So the rumors about Yamada being incredibly stupid are actually true._

Then a thought occurred to Ray which suddenly frightened him. Stella actually saw it in his eyes. She guessed at what it was.

"Your sister is all right. She has a broken nose and a couple of broken ribs. They said she freaked out when she saw you last night, so they kept her here. Knowing Dr. G, he'll finagle a way to keep her here a couple more days."

The fear drained from his eyes, quickly replaced by the glower. She decided to continue with the injury report.

"Your air bag did more damage to you than anything else. However, you'll need to have them take a look at its structure: it didn't catch the right side of your body, hence your arm and eye."

Ray knew why his right side was caught vulnerable in the accident. _Great, now it's become a physical responsibility. _

"So,here's the run-down," said Stella. "Your right arm and hand have cuts throughout, from the broken glass of the windsheild. I hope you weren't hoping to learn to play guitar, in order to replace Scott." _OK, even Ray Beech doesn't deserve that low of a cut. He's in the hospital, can't speak, already lost his best friend to your band, and you have to rub all of that in? _Stella had a bad habit of her words taking leave of her mouth before the bouncer in her conscience could stop them.

But she couldn't bring herself to apologize for it. Broken or not, the boy was a beast, a bully of the worst kind. And, though she now resolved to keep her quips to herself, she would not apologize for that which had already passed. She could think of that last comment as her last hurrah.

Besides, soon enough, he would be transferred to a regular room, and then his entourage could look after him.

Ray looked as if he were working to keep a blank expression. _How did she know? She guessed. So I can't learn guitar. Whatever. I'll hold an audition. There's gotta be 50 guys and about a dozen moody girls at our school who attempt to play the guitar; it would be pretty easy to find one who didn't suck. _

"You have a broken leg." This time, Stella stopped herself before saying _there goes soccer_. She knew Ray was already thinking it.

"Your face was burned by the gas blast of the air bag." _So no more pretty boy._ Though guys tended to care less about their looks than girls did, Stella knew that Ray was vain. His hair was always styled, and with product. There was an awful lot of mall influence in all of his clothing for a dude. And she guessed that the blond of his hair was more than simply the natural result of sunny soccer practice.

"And finally, your vocal cords were damaged, again from the air bag. That is not typical of airbag damage. Usually, it hits your nose long before it gets anywhere close to your neck. Your sister's injuries are the more typical ones of an air bag. Did you have your head turned?"

Ray did not make eye contact. He looked away. But he had bristled at the sound of Stella Yamada mentioning his sister.

Just then, a doctor came in to talk to Ray. "Son, you are one lucky young man." Ray glared at him. _You're kidding right? I've lost guitar, singing, soccer, and girls, all at once. Lucky? What, because I didn't die? Social death is worse._

"We now know the extent of your injuries." and he listed everything that Stella had already said, but with more medical terminology.

"The good news is that it's nothing but up from here. With time and physical therapy, you will probably recover from all of your injuries."

_PROBABLY? What does that mean? _

"And we're kicking you out of the ICU, also good news!" With that, the nurse and a couple of orderlies went to work at making Ray and his machinery mobile.

_Terrific news for me! _Stella was glad to get out of there, to go sleep in her bed, even to go to school. She was thrilled to get as far away from Ray Beech as possible.

As she made her way down the hallway to the stairway, she could hear the squealing of the girls and the "Hey, man" of the guys. She guessed that he was _en route_.

Stella left the hospital and smiled into the sunny sky. _Freedom! _

And then she was nagged by questions. What was Ray's problem with his sister? Why was his head turned during the crash; wouldn't instinct put him facing forward to try to stop the accident? And what in the world was it about him needing to _never _be alone?

Also, there was another emotion threatening to tug at the corners of her conscience. The list of Ray's injuries had succeeded in stripping him of everything that had made him Ray Beech. She wondered at how much of his life had been dedicated to perfecting his soccer skills, if he really had been trying to learn the guitar, if he had worked at his voice or if it were natural, or how many girls had touched his cheeks, the ones that were burned right now. If she had lost her ability to play the guitar, she would have nothing, absolutely nothing. She was a terrible student, and as passionate as she was about worthwhile causes, she was never any good at making a positive change in the world. What if her arm broke irreparably?

Yes, it was impossible to deny this. She began to feel…pity. She felt pity for Ray.

Stella literally shook her head vigorously, to get all thoughts of Ray Beech out. She headed home, grateful that, since she was at the hospital the whole time, her parents would not kill her for being out all night.


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own Lemonade Mouth.

**Chapter 7**

"Charlie, I think this is it." Mo pulled the cord to indicate to the driver that they wished to get off the bus at the next stop.

"The benefit of having a junior in Lemonade Mouth was that we finally had a driver," complained Charlie.

"Yeah, but he has to stay at the hospital."

"Just three days ago, we were playing a show at the Madison Square Gardens! And here we are, not 72 hours later, de-boarding the Mesa County Transit Authority's finest."

"Well, there's the down side to being 'child geniuses'," Mo quoted their favorite review of their album. "Regardless of how well-received we are by the public, we're still not yet old enough to drive. At least you have your permit. I'm pretty sure my father thinks that the bus is a good place to study, and so there is no need to let me get my driver's license."

Charlie stepped off the bus to be greeted by a picture of himself: the ad on the bus stop shelter was none other than one for their CD. He and Mo had to laugh.

"Oh, I hate that picture of me!" She said. "My nose looks huge!"

Charlie did not dare respond. He was still living in the hope that they could both pretend that his big, "I like you" declaration speech had never happened. Part of making that go away was to never pay Mo a compliment. Usually, she was kind enough to not bait him into one either.

She immediately realized her slip-up. "But it is a great shot of the band overall. Hey, I think the Azure office is over here." They crossed the street.

The Azure sign had blue lettering with small squiggles at the upper left of each letter, presumably waves. Inside, there was a reception desk with a girl who looked like she was around their age behind it. She was pretty and athletic, either a cheerleader or a track star, based on her lean physique. She had blonde wavy hair that looked as if a great deal of time was put into making it look as if no time was put into styling her hair.

Mo approached her while Charlie started browsing brochures.

"Hello, my friend here and I had a friend who was in a car accident."

"Uh, ok, I'm sorry?" The girl was confused that she was hearing this story, and a tad annoyed that her day was being interrupted by it.

"Yeah, thank-you. The thing is, we can't get a hold of his parents, and we believe that they are currently on one of your cruises. Do you think we could please see your rosters?"

"That is private information. Have a nice day."

"But did you just hear the part about the car accident? He and his sister are both in the hospital. Their parents have a right to know what's happened to their children!" Mo was starting to sound shrill. She wanted to smack Bored Girl's face.

"I'm so sorry I can't help you," Bored Girl said in a tone that clearly indicated that she was not at all sorry. "Have a nice day."

"BUT…."

At the sound of Mo's voice nearing dog-whistle height, Charlie turned away from the brochures and toward them. Bored Girl completely changed her demeanor immediately.

"OMIGOD! You're! Charlie! From Lemonade Mouth! OOOMMIIIIGOOOOOOOOODDDDDDD!"

Charlie froze. He still had no idea how to handle this. Usually he was with Wen or Scott when they encountered fans. Those guys were geniuses at talking to the public. Charlie, on the other hand, took time to warm up to people before his full personality came out. He loved to play in the band, and he loved singing in some of the songs. He was just as thrilled as everyone else was that people loved to hear them. This just gave him more occasion to get to play. But the trappings of fame? He didn't care for it. He didn't know how to talk to girls who had crushes on him. With the Mo Disaster (how he mentally referred to it), he had spent so much time on the giving end of unrequited love, that he had no idea how to behave on the receiving end of it.

Mo watched all of this, mouth agape. Then, an idea occurred to her. "Would you excuse us a moment, please?" she said to No Longer Bored Girl. "Of course!" she replied.

"Charlie?" Mo motioned for him to join her outside for a minute. He followed.

"Charlie, I have an idea. You have to flirt with her."

"WHAT? I can't do that."

"Look, I think that maybe you can sweet-talk her into letting us see the rosters."

"I can't do it. I can't."

"Sure you can."

"I'm no good at it." he said.

"What makes you say that?"

"Really?" he simply looked at her, eyebrows slightly raised.

"Oh, Charlie. The reason why it didn't…we didn't…I didn't…uh..work…argh! Look, I was still in love with Scott. As much as I would have hated to admit it at that time, I was. So, our situation had nothing to do with your ability or inability to flirt."

"Still, I don't want to do it."

"Why?"

"It's wrong. It will give her false hopes. She'll think we have something, and then it will hurt her when we don't."

"WOW, that is kind of you!" Mo was taken aback at his thoughtfulness. Her heart belonged to Scott, but she would always feel a deep warmth for Charlie.

"OK, Charlie, this is going to sound super crazy. But here's some insight into girls and their celebrity crushes: we don't actually expect anything to _happen_ with the celebrity. In fact, that would ruin it. The fun of our celeb crushes is to _pretend_ like we can be with them."

Charlie was completely bewildered by all of this. If he'd had a chance to go out with Selena Gomez, he'd jump at it in a heartbeat.

Mo continued, "On the waaaaaaaay off chance that we were to actually meet our celeb crush, then, any interaction at all is the most amazing thing that has ever happened. And it's the best story ever to tell to our friends. I guarantee you Charlie, all you have to do is talk nicely to her, maybe compliment her, and give her an autograph if she asks for it. You will make her happy."

"I won't be leading her on."

"No. Just don't ask her out or ask for her number. Keep a professional distance."

_What the heck was considered "professional distance" for a rock star and a groupie? _Charlie wondered, and then he laughed out loud at the thought that he had groupies.

"OK. I'll try." he said.

"You can do it, Charlie!"

They walked back into the Azure office. This time, Mo busied herself with the brochures. Charlie approached the desk.

Was Bored Now Gushing Girl was on her cell phone. "Yes, McKenna! The real Charlie Delgado! Here in the office. Omigod he's back. Gotta go! Hi, Charlie!"

"This is totally unfair. You know my name but I don't know yours."

Giggle. "Oh! It's Stacy."

"Stacy, that's a lovely name." _Oh please, this is ridiculous. Pull yourself out of the movie lines, you idiot. Try to be you somehow._

"So, Stacy, what got you into Lemonade Mouth?" He figured if he knew a little about her, he could anchor the convo a little better.

"I just love 'More Than a Band.' It's such a pretty sentiment. And it's one that you sing on! So, are you guys really?"

"Really what?"

"More than a band?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course! That's Mo." He pointed at the girl buried in the brochures. Not wanting to interrupt, she turned slightly and gave a little wave.

"Oh no! I was so rude. Sorry, Mo!" Stacy called. Mo waved again, international sign of forgiveness.

"So, are you two, like, a thing?"

"Nah, not at all."

"Oh?"

_Crap, how do I get out of this?_

"So, about that whole 'more than a band' thing. We really need to find our friend's parents."

"OH NO! Who was in an accident? Was it Scott? NO, not Scott!"

Charlie could hear a little cough from the brochure rack.

"No no, no one in the band. But it is a good friend, and we really need to help him. We know that his parents are on a cruise, but we cannot find out which one. We've been through every single cruise roster we could think of. Azure is the only one left. Is there any way that you can help?" He made eye contact and added a smile for good nature.

"On one condition."

_Oh no, here's the part where she's going to ask me out, and then I'm going to have to turn her down. We need to abort the mission!_

"What's that?"

"That you say 'hi' to my friend, McKenna, on the phone."

"I can do that!"

Stacy pulled up the roster, and she dialed her friend's phone number. Charlie chatted with McKenna while Mo scoured the documents on Stacy's screen. Charlie kept eyeing Mo's face to see if she'd found anything. Based on the continuous frown, he'd guessed that she hadn't.

"Thanks so much for listening to our band. Take care, McKenna!" Charlie handed the phone to Stacy and thanked her.

"Anytime! If there's anything else you need, just let me know!"

Once out in the street, Charlie let out a huge breath. They rounded a corner, and then Mo collapsed in fits of giggles.

"You weren't kidding. All she wanted was proof to her friend that I was there! I was sure she was going to ask me out."

"No, never in a million years. And in fact, if you'd asked her out, she'd have gotten tongue-tied and terrified and might even have said no."

"Unreal."

Mo kept laughing, "My favorite part was 'NO, not Scott!' I kept trying not to laugh."

"Oh, that was the cough!"

"Yeah."

Charlie felt a lot better about fans and how to talk to them. "Mo?"

"Yeah, Charlie?"

"Thanks. That was a huge help."

"You're welcome." And even better was that the awkward cloud hanging over them had dissipated.

They basked in the glory of the return of their friendship for a couple of minutes before Mo remembered, "The bad news is, we still have no idea where Ray's parents are."


	8. Chapter 8

I don't own Lemonade Mouth.

**Chapter 8**

"We can tell them that we got lost. And that my phone is dead." said Wen.

"We could," said Olivia. "Or…" and they stepped off the elevator at his dad's floor.

Wen looked at his beautiful girlfriend. "Yeah, you're right. OK."

They opened the door to the office that Mr. Gifford was borrowing for them, and they were greeted by, "Wen, where in the world have you been? You are over an hour late. And why weren't you answering your phone?"

"Dad, can I talk to you?"

"Of course you can."

Wen gave Sydney a glance. "Man stuff?"

"Oh, ok. Let's go out in the hallway."

When they left, Sydney said to Olivia, "I guess this whole stepmom thing will take some – more – time to get used to." She was smiling, but there was a hint of sadness in her voice.

Olivia spoke up quickly, "Oh no, it's not that at all!" Then she didn't quite know what to say. "Um, well, we had a fight."

"Oh," said Sydney, confused that a skirmish between friends would keep them an hour late to a business meeting. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, it is," said Olivia. And then, completely against her will, the corners of her mouth pulled themselves up into a smile.

Sydney said, "OH!" and she smiled. Shortly after that, Wen and his dad came back.

Olivia studied her shoes, suddenly very embarrassed. Mr. Gifford had many good qualities, and one of his best was to put people at their ease. He always knew what to say so that people would feel comfortable.

He began, "Now, regarding a manager." Olivia was _hugely_ relieved that he didn't mention whatever Wen had said to him. She had no idea how she would react.

He continued, "You didn't miss much. There wasn't anyone that we liked, not on paper, and not in person. I want to see you guys represented by someone who has strong contract-writing skills, as well as strong accounting skills. Yes, you should have an accountant as a separate person from your manager, but I would like your manager to have some fiscal knowledge as well. Because you guys are all minors, I want to take every possible precaution that no one will take advantage of you by finding ways around all of the protection-of-minors-in-the-workplace laws."

"So, what were the problems with the people you saw?" asked Wen.

"Nothing per se, but none of them were, _enough_. They were all lacking in one area or another."

Sydney added, "He's being very Papa Bear about this, which isn't necessarily a bad thing."

Mr. Gifford laughed, and defended himself, "Oh really, Miss 'There's Just a Vibe I Don't Like About That Guy'?"

Sydney smiled sheepishly, "Guilty."

Olivia asked, "Well, then, what do we do?"

"Well," began Mr. Gifford, "I have a proposal…what if Sydney and I represented you? I know how to read and write solid contracts, and she's an accounting genius."

"Thank-you, sweetie!" said Sydney.

Mr. Gifford finished, "Or, if it will make the band feel more comfortable with this arrangement, we can say that this is a temporary set-up, just until you find a real manager."

Wen looked at Olivia, and she have a half-nod/half-shrug. "OK, Dad, that sounds good. I'll talk to the rest of the band. But I don't see why they wouldn't like it."

"Great, so we can go home now?"

"Actually, your first official task is to find out how we need to handle those two gigs we were supposed to play. Since the second one is a CD signing, I don't know if they will settle for just Olivia and me, or if they want the whole band." He gave his dad the contact information, relieved that he didn't have to make those phone calls.

"All right, kiddo. Have a good night." And then much more quietly as he gave his son a quick hug, "behave yourself."

"Aw, Dad. Really? I'm an angel."

Sydney gave Olivia a hug and, on impulse, a little peck on her cheek. It had been a very long time since Olivia had felt maternal affection (Gran was grandma affection). She was overcome by that tiny act of Sydney's. And she was still overflowing with emotion from the elevator conversation with Wen. Before she knew it, Olivia found herself hugging Sydney. And as soon as she had done it, she immediately pulled away.

"I'm sorry." she said, embarrassed.

"Oh sweetie! I love hugs!" Sydney knew Olivia's story. Her heart broke to think of this beautiful and gentle girl growing up with no mother.

Olivia smiled. "OK."

Wen put his hand on the small of Olivia's back and led her out of the office.

"OK, that's done!" he said.

"Not as weird as it could have been," she said. "Telling the band about us will be trickier."

"Maybe not," said Wen.

"Oh?"

"Well, a couple of weeks after the Halloween Bash, Mo said something to me which I thought was odd at the time."

"What did she say?"

They were out of the building and walked toward a park. Wen took Olivia's hand.

"She said, 'Wen, I've seen the way Olivia looks at you. Make sure you are kind to her and that you don't hurt her.' I had no idea what in the world she'd meant by that."

"Oh, how embarrassing!" exclaimed Olivia. Her feelings for Wen had been broadcast to the world?

Wen stopped walking. He took her other hand, and he pulled her toward him. He put his arms around her, and he said, "Nope. Not embarrassing. Sweet." He kissed her. She frowned, still convinced that everyone on the planet knew about her feelings for Wen. He kissed her again. "Stop making that face." He kissed her again. She had to smile. "Look, Mo is a woman of the world, since she had a relationship before anyone else. She has special insight into these things."

"So, I didn't look like a lovesick cow mooning over the cute redheaded kid?"

"Cow? Where did you get that one? And 'cute redhead', huh? Thank-you!" Olivia looked at him, and she started to laugh a little bit.

"What? What's funny?" asked Wen. They found a bench and sat down.

"No, nothing's funny. It's just a loud smile." She kept smiling. "It's just that, Wen. You're so cute!"

"I do my best to entertain the masses!"

"No, Wen. That's not it. You are incredibly handsome. You have a beautiful face with these incredibly expressive eyes." She reached up and touched his cheek, her thumb running back and forth across it. His heart exploded at her touch. She kissed him. She pulled back just far enough to look at him. "And your hair. I love it." She ran her fingers through his hair. She loved that it was always a little bit undone, but she didn't say so to him; that didn't seem like much of a compliment.

She looked away, embarrassed again, "And I've thought that for a long time, long before we had detention together. I've never had the nerve to do anything about it, though."

Nothing she could say could have taken him more by surprise. Wen Gifford had never once in his life received a compliment on his appearance from anyone outside of his family. But he didn't have a complex about it. He'd just assumed that his looks were not his strong suit. He'd guessed that perhaps Olivia had developed a crush on him because he had been kind to her when she was sad. Then, their friendship grew, and he thought that her crush became genuine feelings based on them getting to know each other better. He would never guess that she was at _first_ attracted to his _appearance_.

"But Olivia, you're so pretty. You could be with anyone."

"Nope," said Olivia, emphatically. "The thing is, I'm a little bit shy." They both smiled at her understatement, "a little bit shy". She held his hand, and she ran her other hand up and down his arm. "I think that most people find that tedious, to get past the barriers of a shy person" He put his hand behind her neck and played with her hair. She continued, "I can't believe that the one person who had the patience to find me was the one that I have hoped and hoped for, but never actually thought would be possible."

Wen couldn't wrap his head around it all. How on earth did he get so lucky? "I just can't believe it."

Olivia looked at her lap and shrugged shyly. Wen kissed her cheek, and he turned her chin toward him. He said, almost inaudibly, "You are a treasure. Every single thing about you is beautiful. And yet, you chose me. I'll never believe my luck." Olivia looked him in the eye and smiled. Wen said, "You're just, precious. That's what you are, precious. And you're mine."

"I am." she said.


	9. Chapter 9

I hope the Ray's family story isn't disappointing. I wanted something that was strong enough to have an impact on his personality, but I didn't want to go maudlin.

Thank-you VERY much for your support and feedback!

I do not own Lemonade Mouth.

**Chapter 9**

Stella was awakened at 9:30 that night by her phone ringing. It was Scott. Stella grumbled, and picked it up.

"Scott, I'm sleeping. What?"

"Well, visiting hours are almost over, and Ray's still sleeping."

"So?"

"Stella, you're the only one who's able to stay here after visiting hours…and what if he wakes up in the night?"

"He'll be fine."

"No, he won't."

"Enough, Scott. You have to tell me why this is such a big deal about Ray and being alone. He's not an infant. He won't stick his finger into an electrical socket without supervision."

"That's not it."

"So, then, what is it?"

"I promised I wouldn't tell."

"Then, good night."

"NO don't hang up. Look, I'm in a bad place here. I swore I wouldn't tell anyone, and guys don't break promises to their friends."

_But it's totally cool to break a promise to your girlfriend? _Stella did not say this out loud. She knew that Scott was a changed man, and that his little dalliance with Jules would never repeat itself.

"I don't know, Scott. I don't even think I can get a ride," but she knew what Scott would say.

"I can come get you."

"But that will be 20 minutes of Ray being alone! Whatever will he do?" She couldn't help herself. "Ergh, just give me a minute to eat something. I'll call you back."

She wandered into the kitchen. Her parents had let her stay home from school that day. If the band had stayed in New York, she would have been out that entire week anyway. She slept most of the day, off and on. She was going to have some food and then try to figure out a better way to tell Scott no, that she would not pull another all-nighter in the hospital. She had to go to school and attempt to be a student at some point in time, and she would like to have a normal night's sleep also.

In the kitchen, Stella found her mother, eating dinner. "Hi, Mom. Why are you having dinner so late?"

"I just got home from the lab. We've been stymied by one part of a formula, and we just can't seem to get past it."

"What a pain. I'm sorry."

"Did you get some sleep?"

"I did, and then Scott called and woke me up."

"Is Ray all right?"

"As far as I know, he's fine, well, you know, except for all the car accident damage." Stella was happy to re-gain the closeness she used to have with her mother. She could say sarcastic things without her mother immediately thinking that Stella was attacking.

"There's that," said her mother. "Has anyone found their parents?"

"Not that I know of."

Mrs. Yamada frowned. "If I were away and something happened to one of you, I'd lose my mind if I couldn't get to you. I would be greatly relieved to know you had friends looking after you."

"I guess so. But Mom, he's not my friend. He's Scott's friend. He's my enemy. He's an awful person, and he's unnecessarily mean to people who totally don't deserve it. For some reason, Scott is close to him, and I want to help Scott, but he's just getting pretty demanding on me."

"How's that?"

"Well, since I know how to get around the hospital's visiting hours, Scott seems to think that I'm going to spend every night babysitting Ray so that _if _he wakes up at all at night, he won't be alone."

"A hospital is a pretty frightening place to wake up."

"Yeah, but, Scott has some kind of mysterious reason why Ray can NOT wake up alone. He won't tell me what it is, and yet he expects me to report for duty every night."

"Stella, sweetie, it's not Scott's secret to tell."

"Mom, I have to sleep. And I have to go to school. And besides, Ray is seventeen years old. I know this because there were freakin' flyers all around school announcing his birthday party. He is months away from being a legal adult. It's about time that he mans up and gets over this weird thing against being alone."

"True, but is now the time for that, when he is broken and in a hospital bed and without his family?"

Stella frowned. Mrs. Yamada continued, "Stella, one of the things that I love best about you is your loyalty to your loved ones."

"Ray is not a loved one."

"But Scott is. And another thing which I treasure about you – and which is one of your best traits – is your desire to help those in need…."

It took Stella a second to realize that her mother was referring to Ray as someone "in need."

"Ray Beech? In need? He has an enormous entourage. I saw them this morning, and, like Ray, they treated me like I was gum stuck to their shoe."

"Yeah, but honey, 'in need' doesn't necessarily mean 'only the kind ones who are in need'."

"So, to be clear, Mom, you are advocating that I spend my nights in a hospital room with Ray Beech?"

"No, I am not. As you said, he clearly has plenty of visitors, you need sleep _and _to go to school every day, and with any luck, his parents will be found soon and they can look after him. Also, his sister should be well enough soon to be able to visit him."

That reminded Stella of something she saw. "OH, and there's another thing. He made a weird angry face when I mentioned his sister. I don't know what that's all about…"

"You know what else, Stella? The kiddos need to see you. You know how poorly Cooper sleeps. Isn't that how you figured out how to get around the visiting hours in the first place?"

"It is, and I do need to get him his stickers."

"You should really go tonight. I'll drive you there. Call a cab to come home after you visit, and get some sleep." Mrs. Yamada knew her daughter well enough to know two things: 1. that Stella would absolutely help her friend, even if it meant dealing with an enemy, and 2. that Stella would only do it if it were her own idea.

Stella grabbed an apple, and then turned to go to her room to get changed. But before she left the kitchen, she said to her mother, "Mom, I know what you're doing…and it's one of the things that I love best about you."

Twenty minutes later, Stella found herself in front of the hospital. She entered and headed for the children's ward. When she got there, the lights were low. She knew it was past the official hospital bedtime for the kids, but she also knew that not all the kids fell asleep at that time, especially her buddy, Cooper. However, tonight, when she got to the little boy's bed, she found him asleep. She left a note with the stickers she had brought for him on his bedside table.

Once in the hallway, Stella walked toward the exit. Then she stopped, let out an enormous frustrated sigh, and headed toward Ray's room.

When she got to his room, Scott was just leaving. Visiting hours had just ended. Scott took one look at Stella, and a wave of relief washed over this worried face.

"Thank-you!" he said in an exhale.

Stella grunted, annoyed.

"Look, Ray woke up for a moment, and I told him that I'm going to tell you everything. He did not look happy about it, but he doesn't have much of a choice, does he? You have a right to know everything, since I dragged you into this."

_Oh joy, _thought Stella. But she was incredibly curious about Ray's Deep Dark Secrets.

They walked to the waiting room, so that they could talk uninterrupted. Then, Scott launched into Ray's story.

"Ray's parents had an incredibly difficult time conceiving. Finally, they decided to try in-vitro fertilization. Now, it isn't as simple as the celebrities make it look. It is a long and taxing – both physically and emotionally – process that only works 50% of the time. They had several failed IVF's before Mrs. Beech finally was able to conceive Amanda. She was kept on bed rest during the entire pregnancy. And just to be safe, they decided to deliver Amanda by C-section. Obviously, no one talks to me about this stuff, but based on what Ray has overheard his extended family say, something must have happened to Ray's mom during all of this. No one knows if it is the chemical hormones of the IVF process, or if it was simply the psychological difficulty of all the loss she endured in finally getting Amanda. But something broke in her. I've always known Mrs. Beech as she is: sweet, soft-spoken, and incredibly fragile. But I guess she wasn't always like that."

"That's pretty rough," said Stella, not quite knowing what else she should say.

"I guess so. So, anyway, when she had Amanda, she was determined to enjoy her, and to make sure that no harm or unhappiness ever came to her. She was always spoiled and doted on, and Mr. and Mrs. Beech always hovered over her to make sure nothing ever happened to her.

"Then, when Amanda was 2 and a half, Mrs. Beech became pregnant with Ray. She was _terrified_. She didn't need bed rest, but just to be sure to keep safe, she holed herself and Amanda up in their house for the entire pregnancy."

"Obviously Ray turned out healthy."

"Yeah, totally. It was a totally normal pregnancy and birth, and he was always incredibly healthy. She has always seen him as her 'bonus prize'. She totally spoiled him too. But with Ray, she encouraged him to do whatever he wanted. And she spared no expense in the process. However, this time around, it seems that Mr. Beech had some kind of snap. He has spent their entire marriage looking after his wife, feeling that she was the most fragile member of the family, even when Ray and Amanda were babies. With Amanda, a daughter, he treated her as if she were just as delicate as he thinks her mother is. But with Ray, I guess since he's a boy, Mr. Beech kinda saw him as assistance in taking care of Mrs. Beech, and by extension, Amanda."

"That sounds kinda sexist," said Stella.

"Well, yeah, but most of all, it's just jacked up," said Scott.

"OK, so I get why there's the great need for Ray's mom to not see him messed up like this. But I still don't get the 'don't ever let him be alone' thing."

"I'm getting to that." Scott said, a little impatient. "All his life, day in and day out, Ray was raised by a mother who encouraged him to do whatever he wanted to do, and by a father who continuously admonished him to not worry his mother and to make sure that his sister never worried his mother. Under his mother's encouragement, he excelled in everything he wanted to do: soccer, music, academics… But because of his dad, Ray was continuously pressured to look after two people who should have been looking after him: his mom and his older sister. He was punished any time that Amanda got hurt, and anytime that he got hurt, because he had worried his mother. By the time he was 10, Ray was overwhelmed. This constant need to make sure his mom and his sister were ok made Ray completely disconnect with other girls: he had his plate full looking after the 2 of them and so had no room for anyone else."

_That explains the womanizing, _thought Stella.

She said out loud, "is he annoyance with his dad the reason why he picks on the weak kids?"

"I don't know. Probably. His home life is incredibly frustrating. So, he is happy when he's in a world where he gets to be in charge."

"But unfortunately, he takes charge by force."

"Well, Ray's dad is a 'take charge' kind of guy, and you know…apples and trees…"

"OK, but again, why the stuff about him never being alone?"

Scott sighed. He knew that he had to tell Stella, and he had given Ray the heads up. And it wasn't _that_ big of a deal. But since the promise was made when they were at that age where friendship is more important than everything else in life, there was a part of Scott that still felt like a traitor. The act of telling Stella this last part was the last step in permanently shifting the level of priority that Ray was in Scott's life. Scott knew that he had started the rupture by leaving Mudslide Crush to join Lemonade Mouth. But this last piece made the change in their friendship status permanent and irrevocable. He knew all that Ray was, but he still loved him like a brother.

"When we were about eleven, we were on a scouting camp-out. He and I had little pup tents next to each other. In the middle of the night, he woke up screaming and crying. So, I ran over to his tent to see what was the matter."

"O….K….." Stella had a difficult time picturing Ray Beech crying like a baby in the middle of the night.

Scott continued, "I thought maybe he'd had a nightmare, so I just kept telling him that it was all right. He wouldn't stop crying. And then I realized that he was still asleep. Or so I thought. I shook him until he told me to stop. I told him he'd had a nightmare. But then he _really _broke down and could not stop crying. I offered to get a counselor, but he refused. He begged me to just stay with him. And then he started talking through the sobs. He said that, more than anything at all, his greatest fear was that something would happen to his dad, and that he would be left alone to look after his mom and his sister. And he didn't think he could handle that. Apparently, he sucks up the pressure his dad puts on him all day long, and he does things like makes sure his mother has her breakfast each day and goes to get his sister when she's out too late. And all of that builds up inside of him. So, if he wakes up alone, he gets these gripping terror episodes."

"Every time he wakes up alone?"

"No, mostly when he's not home. So, when he goes to parties, he hardly ever drinks, so that he can go home. He holds a cup all night long, so that it looks like he's drinking, but he isn't."

"Wait, what was that about getting his sister when she's out too late?"

"Oh," said Scott. "I forgot that detail. By high school, Amanda got sick and tired of being coddled. So, she worked hard enough in high school to get into a college that is far enough to move out of the house, but near enough to come home on weekends. She parties. A LOT. And Ray frequently gets calls from her in the middle of the night to come get her. He has no choice."

"Of course he has a choice!"

"What, to not get her, and then face his father's wrath and his mother finally reaching her breaking point?"

"Oh," Stella was starting to realize that sometimes being a little bit ignored by her hard-working parents was not such a terrible thing.

Something dawned on Stella: "Do you think that's where Ray was when they were in the accident, taking Amanda home from a party?"

"Of course he was," said Scott.

At that point, they saw a nurse walking toward them. "I gotta go," said Scott.

"OK, I'll see you tomorrow at school," said Stella, and she walked into Ray's room.

Ray was asleep when Stella walked in. At least, his eyes were closed.

Ray was not asleep. He figured it was the best way to endure getting through a night with Stella Yamada in his room. Damn Scott. If he'd only slept through the night at that stupid scout camp, he wouldn't have to be in this situation. Normally, Ray Beech welcomed the possibility of spending a night alone with a beautiful woman. But not Stella Yamada, and not here.

Yes, Yamada was beautiful. There was no denying that. She was tiny and full of energy. She had beautiful and passionate eyes, and she had a sense of style that was edgy but not confrontational. That was why he couldn't stop eyeing her on her first day. He figured she would be an easy catch. If nothing else, the fact that she was a freshman ("fresh meat") and he was a junior would be enough to seal the deal. But for some unknown reason, she was unimpressed by him. She told off Jules at the assembly, and Ray loved that she had some backbone. He stepped in and made a freshman move away, to make room for her. But again, she was unimpressed. After she put together that ragtag band of loser freshmen, and then took away half of Mudslide Crush's Halloween Bash gig, Ray decided that she wasn't worth the effort, that she was just an annoying mouthy little freshman.

Then that pathetic band full of total dorks got popular at school and then had their little puke-worthy heart-warming episode at the RIZ-ing Star competition. Ray's only consolation that Mudslide Crush didn't win that night (some hip-hop freaks from the next county won) was that the stupid Lemonheads didn't win either. Then, Scott left Ray to go chase his little freshman honey. AND THEN they got all popular, in spite of their _ridiculous _televised performance. He did think it was pretty funny that all of the coincidental injuries on the RIZ-ing Star day were called the Curse of Ray Beech. He wondered who'd thought of that.

So, here was Miss Mouthy herself, come to keep him company. The fall-out from this car accident just kept getting better and better.

Stella went to her usual seat, but then she changed her mind. She walked over to Ray. She went up close to his face. She studied his features closely. Before the accident, there was no denying that Ray was an incredibly good-looking guy. He had blonde hair and Mediterranean blue eyes. When he smiled, which was rare because he usually sneered, it was a beautiful fun-loving smile. If he were taller, Ray could easily be a model. However, none of this was Stella's type. He was just a bit too pretty-boy for her.

Before she knew it, Stella started thinking out loud.

"I can certainly understand why so many girls flock to you, in spite of the horrible way you treat them. You are a work of art. If you were my type, I'd have a hard time keeping your personality ahead of your looks. But now…"

Ray thought, _now I'm a hideous beast and no one will dare to look at me, so she'll be thrilled to know it._

Stella continued, "Now, you will have scars. They will probably mostly heal, especially if you medicate them. But there will be a couple of burns here." She just barely touched his left cheek, or rather the bandages on it, so that she wouldn't hurt him. "And there will be a couple of cuts here." And she very gently touched his right cheek. "And now, you're going to be insanely hot."

If Ray weren't already prone in a hospital bed, you could have knocked him over with a feather. He couldn't believe what he heard, and especially that it was coming from Yamada.

"There's an old saying that goes, 'chicks dig scars.' It's the truth. Any woman worth her salt wants a man who looks like he's lived a little. If you weren't so horrible and unkind, especially to people who are incapable of defending themselves, I would have a hard time resisting you once you get out of all these bandages."

With her index finger, she touched the portion of his cheekbone that was not bandaged. It was fully back to its normal skin color now. She stroked the small space that was there.

Ray could not believe it. And he was surprised at how much he enjoyed her touch. He felt…connected, yes, connected, to a person that, for once in his life, wanted nothing at all from him. He was grateful they had turned down the sound on his monitor, because if not, she would have heard his enormous heart rate increase.

What was he thinking? This was Stella freakin' Yamada. He couldn't stand the little freak. And yet, he didn't want her to move away from him.

In spite of everything that Stella had experienced from Ray Beech – his horrid nature, the tyrannical way that he ran the school, the way he held court amongst the sycophants of Pretty People Land – she could not deny that the tiny bit of pity she had started to feel that morning for him was growing. There was no excuse for Ray's behavior, but Stella also felt sympathy for the burden that he carried at home. It was simply wrong that his father put such an enormous responsibility on his son's shoulders. And his mother was supposed to parent her children, not the other way around. Stella could hardly blame his sister for wanting to get out from under their overprotective thumbs. But Amanda's act of emancipation only increased Ray's burdens, and that was simply unfair. Stella started to wonder if maybe Ray was a creep because there was not one single positive and selfless influence in his life.

Stella couldn't believe herself, but she did it anyway. Before she could think about it, she leaned forward, and she kissed that spot on Ray's cheekbone that she had been touching. In spite of what a rotten person Ray was, a part of Stella felt endeared to this helpless creature on this bed.

Ray's eyes shot open.


	10. Chapter 10

I do not own Lemonade Mouth. The awesomeness that are Mark Peter Hughes and Disney do.

**Chapter 10**

Startled, Stella exclaimed, "Oh no!" and she jumped back.

She could not read the expression in his eyes. Surprise? Shock? Fear? Oh no, was he having one of his "episodes"? Scott didn't tell her how to handle one, just that he would only have one if he were alone. She thought and spoke as quickly as she could.

"First, don't shout. You'll harm your voice. Next, your parents are fine. That I know of, they're playing…shuffleboard…somewhere…probably with mai tais. Your sister is still in this hospital, but she is recovering perfectly fine. There's no need to be frightened. Everyone is fine."

Ray's expression shifted to one of confusion. _What in the world is she babbling about? _Then he remembered Scott from earlier that evening. _Oh great, now she knows. Which means the rest of the world will soon know. It's not enough that I've lost everything that made me great, I will get to be publicly humiliated on top of it. Well, it's probably no less than I would do to someone else if I needed to…_

His expression shifted from confusion to the dark sulk that had become his default.

Stella understood. She replied, "Yes, Scott told me. And unlike what you would do in my position, I will not tell anyone. And I will never use it against you. As far as I'm concerned, as soon as this…" she made a hand motion that indicated the two of them being in the same room together. "…situation is over, I will be perfectly happy to go back to you and me staying far away from one another."

Ray sighed relief. However, a tiny part of him somehow did not relish going back to exactly as things had been between them…

Suddenly, everything that Scott had told Stella about Ray's family hit her at once. And because she was, well, Stella, words started flying out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"But just so you know, your father is wrong. And you can't exactly hate me more than you already do, so I've got nothing to lose by telling you this. He shouldn't have made you responsible for your mother's well-being. That's his job. Even better, that's her job. Your sister is a grown woman, and it's about time she starts acting like one. You shouldn't have to be her DD whenever she goes out. She knows how to call a cab. God forbid she just stay sober and not worry anyone. But her life is _hers_, not yours. And you know what else? I'm willing to bet that your mother is not as fragile as everyone thinks she is. She is a _mom_; they're built strong. She raised the 2 of you, didn't she? And you're both well. At least, you're generally physically healthy, and as much as I hate to admit it, incredibly talented. She clearly did something right." She allowed Ray to have his moment of basking in a compliment from Stella Yamada before she landed her last point, since this one was going to hurt. "I think that people generally raise – or lower – themselves to the expectations that others have of them. And I think that maybe your mom has gotten used to everyone treating her like she's made of glass. If you just let her experience life as she ought to, she'll probably remember how to inhale and exhale, and eat breakfast, all on her own."

Ray's face was the darkest Stella had ever seen it. That was a pretty severe blow. She just insulted every member of his family and then told him that all of his care-taking was probably exactly what was keeping anyone in his family from bettering themselves. He lifted his left hand (the one that was not in a cast) and motioned for her to get a pen and paper. She fished them out of her backpack and she wheeled a little table to give him a desktop. He wrote, and shoved the paper back at her.

"GET OUT."

"I won't," she said. "I made a promise to Scott, and a promise is a promise."

Ray wrote again and shoved the paper at her. "I RELEASE YOU OF IT."

"That's not for you to do," said Stella. "But I'll tell you what. I'll go back to my chair and attempt to study my horrid math. And you can continue to glare at me." She added, "I promise that I will not talk to you anymore."

True to her word, Stella went to her chair and studied. At least, she made a valiant effort to do so. She stared at the problems, trying to make sense of them, and Ray glared. After about a half hour of this, Ray let out an exasperated sigh.

"That's not good for your voice, you know," said Stella.

Ray motioned for her to come closer and to bring her book to him. He opened to a clean page of her notebook, and wrote out a step-by-step guide as to how to solve the problems of that lesson. Using his lesson, she was able to complete the assignment with ease.

"I guess in exchange for babysitting the school bully, I get to have free tutoring from an honors student who is two years ahead of me. Thank-you, whoever you are."

He wrote, "WATCHING STUPIDITY BORES ME."

"And there's the Ray Beech we all love to hate!" she said in her best condescending voice.

Then, awkward silence.

Ray wrote again. "YOU'RE NOT STUPID, YOU KNOW."

"I am, but since you brought it up, what makes you say so?"

"A STUPID PERSON CAN'T FORM A SUCCESSFUL BAND AND ALSO STAND UP TO 'THE SCHOOL BULLY'."

"That only means I'm fearless, which many people consider to be a form of stupidity."

"I'M NOT GOING TO KEEP TRYING TO CONVINCE YOU OF THIS, SO TAKE THE COMPLIMENT AND SHUT UP."

"Be polite."

"SHUT UP PLEASE."

"Be _polite_."

"YOU'RE NOT STUPID, AND I'M AN HONORS STUDENT SO I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT."

"I'll take that. Thank-you." she said. Ray gave a small half-nod in response.

"And you are a pretty good lyricist." He raised the one visible eyebrow. "Ugh, all right, I have to admit it, you are a brilliant lyricist. But if you quote me, I'll deny it."

Ray motioned to his throat and mouth, as if to say, "How am I going to tell anyone _anything_?"

"Did you write 'Don't You Wish You Were Us?" Ray nodded.

"Yeah, that song is hilarious! Well, that is, if you don't know that it's _you _behind the lyrics, and say, someone a _tad _less arrogant, it sounds ironic, and it's funny. But then the music is great, too."

_What in the world am I doing? _Stella thought. But she felt guilty for delivering such harsh blows about his family. She felt the need to make up for it. And she wasn't lying. Ray's lyrics were incredibly clever.

Ray showed what was the closest to a smile that Stella had seen the whole time that he'd been in the hospital.

"So, there you have it," said Stella. "In answer to the question, 'What would Stella Yamada and Ray Beech do if stuck on a desert island together?', we would apparently mildly complement one another." Ray nodded.

"In summary, I am 'not stupid', and you are a 'pretty ok lyricist.'"

Ray wrote and shoved. "YOU DID NOT SAY 'PRETTY OK'. YOU SAID 'BRILLIANT.'"

"I also said that if you quoted me I'd deny it. So, I said no such thing." But there was some mirth in her voice.

Awkward silence.

To break the silence, Stella said, "All right, you to sleep and me to homework." She turned toward her chair. Then, she felt a hand on her arm. Ray gently tugged at her to go back to him. She complied. His left hand reached behind her head and pulled her close to him.

"This is not a good idea, you know," said Stella, but quietly. Maybe it was pity over his injuries, or understanding of his home life, or a light heart over his weird little half-complement. But Stella felt drawn to Ray Beech. He was attractive, and he did have a magnetism that drew all eyes to him, on stage and off. Love him or hate him, you always _knew_ when Ray was in the room. If he were only a kinder person, she could find herself on the edge of a very dangerous cliff for this guy.

Ray had no idea why he was doing this. Was he still frustrated that she'd never had any interest in him? Was it some sort of need for this conquest? Or was it something else? Except for Scott, Stella was the only person on the planet who knew about his family. Though they were enemies, he knew that Stella would keep her word and not tell anyone.

And she was beautiful. Good God, she was beautiful. Ray had no idea what would come of it, but he just _had_ to be close to her.

Their faces were inches apart, and they stopped there. For the first time in all the time they knew each other, Ray and Stella looked at one another calmly.

_I am covered in bandages, bruises, and stitches, and she is calm._ Ray recalled Patty, his supposed girlfriend, that morning. She looked sickened by his appearance. She and many of the others who came to visit looked as if they wanted to jump out of their own skin for all the discomfort they felt at being there. Ray suspected that none of them would be back to see him. They had put in their time, and they had left behind balloons, flowers, and cards as tokens, public displays of loving friendship, at least the appearance of it. Patty did not touch Ray once when she was there that morning. She held stilted conversation and then quickly got to work at setting up the gifts that everyone brought. When she did talk to him, she did not make eye contact, and her voice was forced, high-pitched and shaky. The second someone mentioned that it was time to go, she had jumped at the chance to escape.

Before all of this, he was content with Patty. She was in all of his classes, she was pretty, she belonged to their crowd, and she tended to him nicely. But they had always lacked in chemistry. Yeah, it was fun to make out with her, just like any other girl, but it wasn't exciting.

Right now, just looking at Stella Yamada up close, and Stella looking back at him, Ray felt more electricity than he ever did with any amount of full-throttle kissing with Patty.

His stomach actually ached with wanting to kiss Stella. He wanted to, and yet, something stopped him. So, he just kept looking in her eyes, his fingers entwined in her hair.

Stella sat down on his bed to end the awkward semi-squat stance she had been in before. She found any exposure of skin on his head, neck, shoulders, arms, and she touched it. All that had gone on before disappeared, even if just for this moment. She felt connected to him, and she was…happy…to be this close to him.

They did not kiss. They simply were near one another. And they were content.

The sound of the door opening made Stella nearly jump out of her skin. Thankfully, she regained her composure before the nurse entered the room.

"Stell's bells!" It was Rob, one of her favorites.

"Rob, my favorite murse!" Stella exclaimed.

"Oh sure, because I'm the only murse you know."

"Mayyyyybeeee….." Stella said, in mock sheepishness.

Ray looked annoyed, and rightfully so. Rob was a total knock-out. He was what anyone would call tall, dark, and handsome, and he was somewhere in his 20's.

"What the heck are you doing here?" Rob asked Stella.

"Um, hanging out? Cuz the hospital is the latest teen craze? Pretend to visit people and flirt with the staff?"

"Of course! I think I read an article about that somewhere. I think it was entitled, 'Beware of Cute Jail Bait Lurking in the Hallways'."

Stella laughed. Ray glowered.

Stella pointed to Ray, "Your charge here goes to my high school, and I'm his night watchman."

"Well, kid," said Rob to Ray, "You couldn't ask for a better pitbull." Then, he leaned in closer and said in a mock conspiring tone, "or a cuter one."

"And now, I blush," said Stella, smiling.

"You? Blushing?" said Rob, "When pigs fly!"

Then he said, "I need to check his vitals and other stuff that a lady ought not see, so I'm kicking you out. Go get a soda, and by the time you come back, I'll be done."

"Lady. Cute." said Stella. And she left.

When she came back, Ray still had that foul facial expression.

"Oh, look at you. Why the frowny face? Did he hurt you."

Ray rolled his good eye.

On instinct, Stella leaned forward and kissed the tip of Ray's nose.

"Ray, I don't know what's going on here. I guess you probably don't, either." She thought a second. "It's kinda like summer camp…uh, with injuries… At summer camp, the social order of the world around you disappears, and everyone gets along. But then you leave camp, and it all comes back."

Ray had to admit to himself that Yamada knew what she was talking about. Frankly speaking, even when she was raking his family over the coals, she was right. She said everything out loud that he had been thinking for years.

He reached up and touched her cheek. He had no idea what was going on, either. But something inside of him was starting to dislike the person he had been, and that maybe the kindness of a certain beautiful tiny spitfire might point him in the direction of being…better.

He picked up the pen, wrote, and pushed the paper toward Stella: "I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT YOU WERE HOT."

Another weird compliment. But Stella wasn't going to argue this time. "Thank-you and shut up," she said. Then, "I'm just following your instructions."

He wrote another note. "NOW I'M BEGINNING TO SEE THAT YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, INSIDE AND OUT."

"Wow," Stella whispered. She couldn't say anything else. This was beyond uncharacteristic of him, and she didn't want to break him out of his spell.

She went back to her chair, buying time to compose herself. Then she said, in her best Commanding Nurse voice. "And now, to sleep!" 


	11. Chapter 11

I don't own Lemonade Mouth.

**Chapter 11**

"She's asleep."

"Should we wake her up?"

"Maybe. Probably. If we all want to get to school on time. Stella. Stellllllaaaa. Wake up. Wake uuuuuup."

"That's not going to work," said Charlie. "I know what to do."

Stella woke up to the sensation of Charlie tapping on the tip of her nose. "Cut it out, Charlie!"

"Works every time."

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We've come to take you to school. We're tired of suffering there without you. But I have to admit…" Charlie glanced at Ray to make sure he was still asleep. "School seems to be a bit more peaceful these days…"

"Charlie!" exclaimed Mo. Then in a whisper, "He's right here!"

"Well? Are we supposed to pretend that he hasn't terrorized our daily existence, just because he's busted up and in the hospital?"

"No, but maybe not discuss this right in front of him?" said Mo.

"Last I checked," said Stella, "there isn't a school bus stop in front of the hospital."

"Scott's taking us. He was parking. Here he is!"

Scott entered, checked on Ray, and greeted Stella.

"Any news on the parents?" asked Stella, although she was beginning to think that perhaps their absence wasn't such a bad thing.

All of them shook their heads. Then, they heard Ray start to stir.

Ray was tired of pretending to sleep. The dork huddle was boring him. So, he pretended to wake up. What was that Delgado kid saying about the school being peaceful without him there?

"Hey, bud!" said Scott.

At that moment, someone else entered the room. She was around 20, and she had bandages on her nose and around her chest.

She greeted Scott, "Scotty Potty!"

"Amanda the Panda!"

Amanda Beech had long wavy hair that she had died strawberry blonde. Dyed red hair always made Stella laugh a little bit because of a memory she had of Wen ranting about it once. He'd said, "Why in the world would anyone dye their hair red _on purpose_?" Like Ray, Amanda also had blue eyes, but hers were less electric and had more gray overtones.

Scott remembered everyone else. "Amanda, this is Stella, Charlie, and Mo."

"Hey," she said.

They nodded and greeted her.

Amanda turned to Ray. She gasped at the severity of his injuries. "I did this. Oh, Raby Baby, I'm so sorry."

Stella couldn't decide if this pile of nicknames was endearing or obnoxious.

Ray was trying to keep a blank expression, but it softened at her apology. It was automatic for him to try to make his sister feel better, even now, when he was laid up in a hospital, and it totally _was _her fault.

He motioned for the pen and paper, and Stella brought it to him. He wrote and pushed the notebook to Amanda.

"NO, IT WAS THE IDIOT TURNING LEFT WHO DIDN'T SEE US."

"Yeah, but, you know what I mean."

Ray nodded curtly.

"So, it looks like I'm getting sprung from here tomorrow," she said.

"Where's she gonna stay?" Stella asked Scott. Then, remembering that Mo and Charlie didn't know anything about what Scott had told her about the Beech family, she added, "I heard Dr. Grauman mention that she'd need someone to look after her at home, to help her with her bandages if necessary."

"Unfortunately, there's no room at my place. My mom would kill me if I brought someone home for her to try to find space for," Scott said.

Mo offered, "She could come to my house. There's always someone home. We have house guests all the time, so my parents would have no problem with her being there."

Amanda said, "You know I'm in the room, right?"

Charlie replied (to Mo), "There's also my place. She could stay in Tommy's room, and my mom will be _thrilled_ to have a girl around!"

Amanda tried again, "I'm _right_ _here._"

They finally took notice of her.

"Look, I don't need to be babysat, ok?"

Everyone in the room looked at her. Stella turned to Charlie and Mo, and said in a level tone, "Guys, could you please wait in the hall for a second?" They knew that tone all too well, and they were more than happy to not be around for a Stella Tirade, whatever it was about.

After Charlie and Mo left, Stella faced Amanda. Although Stella was a good half foot shorter, she suddenly seemed to tower over Amanda.

"Look, I have had almost no sleep over the past two nights, not to mention having a _sweet_ trip to New York cut short, all due to _your _choices and precisely your need to be 'babysat'. You have a family who adores you and wants nothing more than to see no harm come to you. So what if that's a little oppressive at times? Poor baby, she's just loved too darned much. Enough! Cut your brother – and your parents for that matter – some slack. Try leading a non worry-inducing lifestyle, and let Ray have his own life. He has a busy schedule terrorizing his entire high school and doesn't have the time to go chasing after you every time you decide to lose control of yourself."

Amanda was surprised, and angry. "Who do you think you are, you little b-"

"Don't even," said Stella. She called out to Charlie and Mo. "You guys ready?" They came back in the room.

Stella turned to Ray, and she pointed to the notebook and pen, "You. Write. No more lollygagging."

Mo mouthed to Charlie, "Lollygagging?"

Stella continued, "As long as you're lying around all day, put your time to use, and write music. Who knows? Maybe you'll come up with something decent." Because her back was to everyone else, and only Ray could see her face, Stella winked at him. The corners of Ray's mouth twitched a little bit, as if he might smile.

Mo spoke up, "Off we go then?"

"Wait," said Charlie. "We still have to get to the bottom of the whole missing parents thing."

_Must we? _thought Ray.

Scott said, "Right." Then, he turned to Amanda and Scott and asked, "Hey, are you guys _sure_ your parents are on a cruise?"

Amanda replied, "Of course!" and Ray nodded.

"The thing is," said Scott, "There is no record of them on any cruise roster that we can get a hold of. Would there be any info at your house?"

Amanda said, "Not likely. They gave us all of their info on our phones."

"The ones that were destroyed in the accident?"

"Yeah, those ones."

"Do you remember which cruise line they took?" asked Charlie.

They both shook their heads. Mr. and Mrs. Beech traveled a great deal. Amanda was in college, and Ray was busy being Ray, and so neither paid much attention to the details of this trip.

Scott asked Charlie, "Are you absolutely sure you've looked everywhere you can for them?"

"Yes," said Charlie. "I just don't get it…no one at all by the last name of Beech on anything that my mom can find for us."

"Wait, you've been looking for Beech?" asked Amanda.

"Well, yes, that being your name and all."

Ray and Amanda looked at each other. Amanda spoke for the two of them, "oops."

Stella grew impatient, "WHAT is it?"

"Well," said Amanda, "our parents usually travel by a pseudonym."

"Of course!" said Charlie. And Mo said, "That makes sense."

"Why?" asked Stella. She felt trapped in a foreign-language film; no one was making any sense. "Are they oh-so-famous?"

Everyone else in the room looked at Stella as if she were the stupidest person they had ever seen.

"Is there something I'm missing here?"

Scott spoke up. "Stella, Mr. Beech owns Turbo Blast."

"Oh," she said. Then, "OH." Now, the fact that the energy drink sponsored the new gym and upcoming football/soccer field, in addition to the all-weather track, made much more sense. She had never been able to figure out why there was so much invested in one high school by such a high-profile company.

Charlie ripped a page from Stella's notebook and grabbed the pen. "What name do they go by?"

"David and Henrietta Dawson."

"Who believes that anyone under the age of 90 is named Henrietta?" asked Stella.

"says the 15-year-old named Stella." said Scott.

"Good point," she replied. "Charlie?"

Charlie was already on his phone, "on it!"

With that, Mo, Charlie, Scott, and Stella left to go to school.

Before they left, Ray knocked on his table. Stella turned back. "Yes?"

"BACK TONIGHT?" he wrote.

"Yes," she said.

And Ray smiled a real smile.


	12. Chapter 12

Thank-you again, everyone, for such warm support and fun suggestions! I'm having a lot of fun writing this, and I'm so happy that you are enjoying it, too!

I'm actually almost done with Chapter 13, but I'm struggling with some phrases. As soon as I can get them the way I want them, I'll update.

I do not own Lemonade Mouth.

**Chapter 12**

They arrived at school just in time to run at break-neck speed to first period as the last bell was ringing.

During mid-morning break (no one knew why it was so necessary to stop calling it "recess" after elementary school), Stella used the restroom. While she was enclosed in the stall, she heard two familiar – but not friendly – voices.

"Did you see that Scott tried to make up a schedule for us to visit Ray in shifts?" said Jules.

"Yeah, as if any of us would listen to that traitor. Whatever, Scott." replied Patty.

"Totally! But….are you going to go see him?"

"Ray? Well, we have practice after school…"

"Yeah, and I've got a huge history test tomorrow. But.." Jules pressed again, "Patty, you're his girlfriend. If you want to go see him, I can totally cover for you at practice."

Stella was a little bit surprised. _So, they're 'on again'? It's a good thing I didn't kiss him last night. _She stayed put in order to eavesdrop some more.

"Yeah….but….I don't know, Jules. Did you see him? He's a total mess. And you know how grumpy he gets. He probably doesn't want to see me anyway. And…I know this is going to sound totally superficial and all…but…like…what if he has…scars…on his face…like, permanent?"

Jules finished Patty's thought for her, "You think you won't be attracted to him anymore."

Patty was relieved to not have to say it out loud. "Yeah. And prom pictures? You know? Those are, like, forever souvenirs of high school…and if they're not perfect…"

Stella, although completely appalled by this conversation, couldn't stop her mind from wandering for a moment to the thought of standing next to a certain blonde guy in a tux with some manly-livin' marks on his face, smiling for a photographer…that'd be a pretty nice pic…

Again, she physically shook her head to remove the weirdo fantasy. She flushed the toilet to announce her presence to the girls, and she left the stall.

"Oh, uh, hi, is it Stella?" said Patty. Stella thought it hilarious that the only defense the Pretty People Crowd had on the nationally famous freshman rock band members was to pretend to never remember their names.

"Yeah," she replied over her shoulder while she was washing her hands.

"I was wondering if you could maybe do me a favor."

_This ought to be interesting._ Her reply was to glare, but to at least make eye contact, so that Patty could decide to continue.

"Well, I'm super busy with cheerleading and all. And I'm pretty sure that Ray wants to be alone anyway…"

_Man, for a school "power couple", these two don't know each other at all. I guess being pretty is enough to have in common. _

"And Scott says that you're some kind of frea…uh, person, who can totally handle being in hospitals and all."

"What do you want…was it…Patty?"

Patty narrowed her eyes at Stella's attempt to pretend that she didn't know who she was. "I want you to tell Ray that I can't come see him."

"Today? Or, any day?"

Patty looked down for a split second, and then she looked away. "Any day, I guess."

"Let me get this straight," Stella said, saying each word clearly but keeping her tone in check, "You want me to break up with Ray Beech for you?"

Patty shrugged. "I guess, yeah. But you like doing mean things, right? So, it shouldn't be a problem for you. It would just be too hard for me to see him hurt like that. But you…you can do that kind of thing."

_Wow_, thought Stella.

The bell rang. "I gotta go," said Patty, and she bolted out of the restroom.

Jules stayed behind. "Hey, Stella?"

"Whom do you need to break up with?" Stella asked, exhausted from the strangeness of her entire morning, but angry at Patty's audacity.

"I just wanted to say…thanks…for everything you've done…for Ray," and then she, too, bolted out of the restroom.

_Man, it's Pretty People Sprint Day._ So, somewhere deep down, Jules was a tiny bit human. But Patty, she was nothin' but rotten through and through. _In her defense, _thought Stella,_ I guess it takes an absence of humanity to date Ray Beech on purpose._

The rest of the day was uneventful, just insane piles of make-up work from their absence from school.

"Any news, Charlie?" asked Mo on their way to Scott's car.

Charlie was turning his phone on. "Here it is, looks like she sent this an hour ago. She found the cruise ship, made contact, and is now working to get them to the nearest port and the quickest flight back."

"Wow!" said Stella. "I'm glad the band has such a stellar travel agent! Oh, and speaking of convenient parental connections, did everyone get Wen's text about the manager situation? Are we good with it?'

"Yeah, of course," said Mo. "Has Mr. Gifford gotten to the bottom of the CD signing show?"

"He did," said Charlie. "It turns out that the store where we were supposed to do the signing is sponsoring a concert tour. So, he agreed for us to play in the show that'll be near here in a couple of weeks. That seemed to keep them happy."

On their way to the hospital, everyone was complaining about all the homework they had. Something dawned on Stella. "Scott, have you been home at all?"

"Yeah, after visiting hours last night, I went home."

"You must be more tired than I am. And you probably have Mt. Everest in homework."

"I do, but Ray is more important."

"Well, why don't you go home today? I'll take a double shift."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

Everyone in the car looked at Stella as if she had grown a second head.

Stella shrugged. "I'm good with hospitals. And I found out last night that Ray can help me with my math."

"I'm sorry. What?" said Mo.

Stella shrugged again. "I don't know. I guess he's bored or something. But I have a ton of math, and….so….yeah. Scott, go home and get some sleep."

"I'm going to drop you off and then drive away _really fast _before you wake up from whatever weird trance you're in."

He did just that.


	13. Chapter 13

I don't own Lemonade Mouth.

**Chapter 13**

As Stella walked into the lobby, the doors to the left of her swung open and a family walked through. _Ugh, oncology. _The family looked grim, they always did. What caught Stella's eye was a little girl with them. Her little eyes were awash with the tears that she was trying to fight back. Poor little worried, terrified child. Stella's heart broke for her.

Stella could take any level of sick or injured person, but the sad and frightened loved ones just destroyed her. She felt a new wave of love and appreciation for her dad and his research, praying for his success, so that there wouldn't be any more children in the place where Stella just saw that little girl.

It made her think of Olivia. That was about the age that Olivia was when she lost her mother. It had only been a couple of days since Stella saw Olivia last, but she suddenly missed her friend deeply. She sent Olivia a text.

"Sending you lovin'. I miss your beautiful self. Xoxoxo!"

Olivia wrote back, "Miss you, too! Hope you're not suffering too much with Ray."

"Putting up with it. BTW everyone says yes to Wen's dad being manager."

"OK, I'll tell him."

"Come home soon!"

"OK."

By the time she arrived at Ray's room, she had regained her composure. But she needed to clean up. She made a bee-line for the Kleenex when she got there. Ray watched her, and thought she was coming down with something. He wrote, "TOO MUCH TIME AROUND SICKOS?"

Stella replied, "No, it's not that. I have no problem with sick people. It's their sad families that I can't handle."

Ray looked at her, his expression unreadable. She really was nothing like the person he had thought she was. Then again, he was beginning to not exactly be the person he had thought he was, either.

Stella changed the subject.

"OK, so I have a pile of math, and I really need your he…HEY!" She finally took notice of his changes. Most of the bandages were off of his face and his right arm. His IV was removed, and there was a bowl of soup in front of him. His face was bruised, but the bruises were beginning to fade. The burns were not nearly as bad as the bandages had made them seem. His arm did have a series of cuts on them, but they were now dressed with smaller, individual bandages, rather than the full-arm wrap.

"You look terrific!" she said. Ray was surprised at how such an odd compliment under equally odd circumstances could raise his spirits so much. "And no IV means that you're eating proper food, which means your voice is on Recovery Road! Well done!"

Stella suddenly remembered, "Oh, I have news for you, two pieces…and I'm not sure if you'll think it's good news or bad."

Ray waited. Stella put down her backpack, and she sat down at the foot of Ray's bed.

"Your parents have been found. Charlie's mom, who is apparently the World's Best Travel Agent, is working to get them here as quickly as possible."

A parade of emotions marched over Ray's face. At the end of the day, they were his parents, and he loved them and did want to see him. But he worried that his mother would totally fall apart at the sight of him. And he was certain that his father was going to kill him for getting the both Amanda and him into harm.

Stella figured out that last piece. She saw a moment of fear pass Ray's face. She spoke another unbidden flood: "You didn't do this, Ray. It was absolutely not your fault whatsoever. You were _taking care _of her. There is no way that he can think that this is your fault. And besides, he'll probably be so relieved that you're ok, he won't be mad." She had no idea if that last part were true or not, but it never hurt to throw something like that in when someone was worrying.

For reasons completely unbeknownst to Ray, Stella's words did calm his nerves.

Stella looked at his arm, and she figured something out. She said, "You were trying to protect her, weren't you?"

Ray did not respond.

"When you knew you were headed into an accident, you tried to lean over and protect your sister. That's why the air bag missed your right arm, and why your head was turned, exposing your neck to the air bag blast."

Ray gave her a hard, long look. Then, he calmed down, and he nodded.

Stella said the words that Ray had thought about her when she walked in a few minutes earlier. "You're nothing like the person I used to think you were."

Ray raised his eyebrows, as if to say, "_used _to?"

"Well…yeah. I mean, you have to admit it, you're a total beast at school. I always just assumed you were some kind of soul-less, spoiled little rich kid who assumed that the world revolved around you."

Ray nodded and pointed to himself, as if to say, "Wouldn't you be if you were me?"

Stella rolled her eyes. "_Anyway_, I know you don't like that I know about your family life. But I'm glad I do. I'm glad to see humanity in you. I just wish…" she trailed off. It didn't seem like a "ready" moment to have that kind of conversation.

He raised his eyebrows waiting for her to finish. She changed her mind again, and finished her thought. She didn't feel angry, she just decided that it was just best to be out with it. "OK, I just wish the rest of the world could see that you are capable of being kind and care-taking. Or, at least you could consider just leaving people alone. They have nothing to do with your personal situation, and it's unfair that you take it out on them. Besides, you don't know what they're going through in their own lives. You know why? Because _they_ don't take it out on _you_. Furthermore, your looks were an accident. You have no right to belittle people because of the accident that bestowed upon them their appearance."

"Anyway…" she trailed off again. For once in her life, Stella Yamada had nothing to say.

Ray was not angered at her outburst. He actually didn't know how to respond, or even feel about it, to be honest. So, he chose to change the subject.

He wrote, "YOU SAID THERE WERE TWO PIECES OF NEWS?"

"Oh yeah," said Stella. She was dreading this one. She had no idea how Ray felt about Patty, but a break-up was a break-up, and it couldn't feel good to be dumped. "So, Patty…"

Ray wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"OK, well, then, maybe this won't be as bad as I thought it would be. Um, Patty, um," Oh, it was best to just pull the Band-aid off quickly, "wants to break up with you." Crap. Crap. Crap. She looked up at him, feeling like the soldier in the trenches who had to be the one to see if everything was all clear.

He wrote, "DID SHE TELL YOU THAT?"

"Well, yeah. Actually…" ugh, this was awful, "…she kinda asked me to tell you."

"LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT: PATTY ASKED YOU TO BREAK UP WITH ME FOR HER."

"Well, yeah, since I'm a 'freak who's ok with being in hospitals', or something like that."

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Unbelievable.

"I'm sorry," said Stella.

"I'M NOT."

"OK. So…did you write anything today?"

He nodded, and turned to another page of her notebook which contained lyrics and chord progressions.

Stella scooted further onto the bed to get comfortable. She read the song.

Stella loved it. There was no doubt about it. Ray was a song-writing genius. And this piece was no different in quality. The lyrics were funny and clever and with a little bit of a bite. But there was also something else, a charm and overall – this was impossible to believe – positive statement, something that she hadn't seen in his other songs. She hummed out the chord progression to get an idea of how the completed song would sound. She shook her head in amazement.

When she looked up, she almost laughed at Ray's facial expression. She had never seen him want anyone else's opinion before, and here he was, his entire face begging for hers.

"It's genius, Ray, pure genius." He looked relieved. "But…" His relief wavered. "…it doesn't look quite like the type of thing Mudslide Crush does. Are Dean and the others going to be ok with changing their style?"

Ray turned the page. There was a note already there. He added a phrase in the margin, and he handed the note to Stella.

"The song is intended for Lemonade Mouth. You and your bandmates did a lot for me: left New York, pulled all-nighters in a hospital room chair, put my sister in her place, found ('are looking for' was crossed out and 'found' written above it) my parents, and you apparently helped my girlfriend to detach herself from me." (that last part was what was added to the margin). "I at least owe you a song. I don't like the competition from your band, but there's no denying that you guys are good. So, you're probably good enough to play my music." Stella raised an eyebrow. Ray smirked at her.

"You're going to love how it turns out. Thank-you," she said.

They looked at each other and smiled. Then, the smiles faded, and they were just looking at each other. Ray reached up and touched Stella's cheek. Stella moved in closer. Before they knew it, their faces were inches apart. They kept looking at one another, Ray's fingers continuously drawing unknown patterns on her cheek. Stella _wanted_ him to kiss her. But he still wasn't quite mobile, so he couldn't lean in very far. Stella realized this and decided that she would help him, but that _he_ would still kiss _her. _Slowly, millimeter by millimeter, Stella moved in closer to Ray. All he had to do now was simply make contact. They were close enough to feel each other's breath on their faces. Their hearts were pounding like crazy.

Then, the doorknob jiggled. Someone was about to walk in.

_NO_, thought Stella. This was _not _going to be one of those movie moments where kisses _always _got interrupted right before they were about to happen. That doesn't happen in life!

Quickly, while whoever it was opened the door and took the few steps to round the corner to his bed, Stella bridged the gap. She kissed him, and then she immediately jumped off the bed. The nurse only saw Stella standing next to Ray's bed, carefully studying his vitals monitor. Stella excused herself so that Ray could have his privacy while the nurse checked on him.

It was quick, shorter than a second, but it was unmistakable. It was a kiss. Stella's lips were tingling. She loved it! But she hated that _she_ had to do it. She did not want to be thought of as one of the girls that fawned all over Ray Beech. Just the thought of it made stomach bile inch up her throat.

Furthermore, there was the age difference. Two years is not much in general, but two high school years, especially when the younger is a freshman, is a little bit of an issue, even if said freshman is a rock star. In fact, that was almost worse. All Stella needed was for it to get around school that she _threw herself_ at Ray Beech. She generally didn't care what other people thought of her, but this was another matter altogether.

He should have made the move, but he didn't, even though he'd had ample opportunity.

Stella decided that she would back off of him. She would let him figure out what to do next.

As the nurse fussed over Ray, he sat completely still, totally stunned. _What just happened? _Ray Beech had never in his life been taken by surprise by a girl before. Before about 5 minutes ago. He was always the one to be in control of any situation, especially when it came to girls.

An idea occurred to him. This was it! A little honey – who just happened to be a famous nation-wide hottie guitarist – on his arm was just the thing to keep him on top at school. It would be even better if it got out that she put the moves on him first…

But what happens "on top", anyway? People got out of his way in the halls and in the cafeteria, he liked that. He was always surrounded by the most desirable people on campus. Mudslide Crush shows were full of screaming fans. And there was never a lack of girls to date. That was a pretty sweet way to spend your school day.

However, though he hated to admit it, he was bothered by the thought that he wasn't exactly beloved. Besides Scott, he couldn't think of anyone in their crowd who genuinely cared about him. True, he did have a pile of visitors yesterday, but not one (except for Stella) today. In fact, his _girlfriend_ broke up with him by proxy.

There was also the matter of that Delgado kid saying that school was more peaceful without Ray around. He always wanted complete control of the school, but the thought that everyone was happier without him there didn't quite sit right with him.

Furthermore, there was something more about Stella Yamada. Even though she was pretty, she was no one's arm candy. He didn't think she would exactly behave like a proper bauble. And he didn't think he wanted her to.

Ray Beech was actually beginning to grow tired of his super-villain lifestyle. It was time for a change.


	14. Chapter 14

I don't own Lemonade Mouth.

**Chapter 14**

When Stella got back to the room, she went back to her chair and found some school work. Ray watched her, trying to absorb details about her that he'd never thought to notice before. He watched her pour over her English assignment, her pencil flying across the page. It was difficult to believe that such delicate fingers could own a guitar so masterfully (maybe not his style of music, but he couldn't deny that she was a great musician). Her hair kept flopping in her face, and every couple of minutes, she automatically shoved it back. She was, of course, left-handed. Every so often, she had to stop to think. When she did, she looked up at some unknown spot, as if she were trying to see the air. Her brown eyes were always full of expression. Ray found himself wondering about eyes like that looking at him with all the depth of feeling that Stella was capable of. But she never looked back at him.

Stella knew that Ray was watching her. _Don't look up. Don't look at him._ It was nerve-wracking that he just stared like that. What did he want? Luckily, she was an ace at English, and it was pretty easy to lose herself in the assignment. Her English teacher encouraged the students to draw comparisons between their lives and the literature they were reading. Stella was busy at a long-term assignment where she compared _The Odyssey _to Lemonade Mouth's rise to fame. They were not trying to get home, like Odysseus. But their journey did find obstacles, foes, and other happenings that thwarted them, or at least attempted to. She had plenty to write about.

In her writing, Stella remembered that one of Lemonade Mouth's greatest foes was sitting about ten feet away from her. Furthermore, up until today, he had one of his eyes bandaged. Ray Beech was the Cyclops! At this realization, Stella couldn't keep an out-loud laugh from escaping.

_What was so funny?_, Ray wondered. Maybe Stella Yamada really was as insane as he had thought she was. He raised an eyebrow, and she finally looked up at him, mostly because she was embarrassed about laughing out loud.

He wrote: "WHAT?"

"I don't even know if I could explain it."

"ARE WE PRESSED FOR TIME?"

"Oh, all right. I'm writing this paper for English where I'm comparing Lemonade Mouth's journey to Odysseus'. Well, you were pretty much our biggest obstacle to get to our goal, in the beginning, and…well…when you had your eye bandaged, it kinda made me think of the Cyclops that battled Odysseus…" she looked at him sheepishly.

Ray nodded thoughtfully. He wrote, "I'M NOT SURE WHETHER TO BE INSULTED, OR TO BE IMPRESSED WITH MYSELF THAT I EVER POSED A THREAT TO YOU."

"Oh come on, don't feign humility. It doesn't become you."

"WELL-PLAYED." Ray was annoyed and pleased that his usual ploys would not win this particular girl over. _But she did kiss me._ Granted, it was a lightning-quick peck, which she probably wouldn't have done if the nurse hadn't interrupted. But it was a kiss.

If that nurse hadn't interrupted…

Ray was about to kiss Stella. Though eager to be connected to her, he was enjoying the slowness of it all, of getting closer. He was going to give her a kiss, and no peck, either. A real, no mistaking how he felt, kiss. He was going to wrap his good arm around her and hold her so tight that she knew exactly where she stood with him.

He cursed that interruption. But then, he became glad for it. He was going to kiss Stella when he had the time to do it right, none of this being on edge that someone would walk in at any second and then jumping away from one another. He was going to kiss Stella, but he was going to _kiss_ her, good and proper.

They would both just have to wait…for now.

Stella decided that math would have to wait. She was not going anywhere nearer to Ray Beech than she absolutely had to. She just didn't trust herself. And she did not need him thinking that she was throwing herself at him. True, he did seem changed, or at least she was getting to see a different side of him. But he was probably going to go back to his awful self the second he set foot back on campus, even if it was foot and crutches that he was actually setting onto campus.

She found something else to work on. But she was exhausted. Finally, she gave in to the sleep that crept upon her.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Stella woke up. She looked at Ray sleeping, and she just couldn't help herself. She wanted to be, had to be, near him. She brought her chair over to the side of his bed. For the first time, she took her time to get a good look at him. He was undeniably handsome, even with his hair un-styled and with stubble growing on his face. His eyes were always considered his best feature, but even with them closed, Ray Beech was a beautifully assembled human. With most of the bandages removed from his face, Stella noted that her previous suspicions were correct: the small scars that the burns had left gave Ray a rugged edge that removed the boyishness from before. He was irresistible.

_This is not good._ Stella thought. She was beginning to realize that she was in danger of falling for Ray Beech. This time, she did not shake the thought out of her head in disgust. Nevertheless, she was afraid of it. She had never minded Ray's feeble attempts to unleash his rage on her before, back when she couldn't stand him. But now, if she were to really let herself care for him, and then he reverted to the creep he'd been before, that would be truly painful.

Stella decided that she would shield herself against the inevitable. She would assume that Ray would return to his former self once he recovered. But Stella would at least enjoy this moment. She would view this time as a momentary reprieve from their normal adversary positions.

Stella touched Ray's wounded arm gingerly. Carefully, she brushed her fingers over each bandage. Then, she traced the wounds on his face, briefly, because she did not want to wake him up. He started to stir, so she stopped. She went back to his arm. She leaned over and softly kissed each bandage, imagining that she was assisting his recovery that way.

While Stella was leaned over, she felt a hand on her back, gently. A part of her was happy that Ray was awake, but she was terrified to look up at him. She knew that, if she did, there was no turning back. She would kiss him, and she would embrace him, and he would know every bit of what she was beginning to feel for him. This would be terrible, because she was not convinced that he had any kind of feelings for her, beyond amusement at the cutie little freshman who was apparently flinging herself at him.

Without looking up (she had a secret hope that he would think she was sleep-walking), Stella carefully climbed onto the bed. She positioned her head in the space between Ray's right arm and his chest, in order to not hurt him. She turned herself toward him, and he placed his left arm over her. In this gentle embrace, Stella and Ray fell asleep.


	15. Chapter 15

I still don't own Lemonade Mouth. I own other stuff (a piano, some really pretty shoes, a cute pink iPod), but owning a copyright would be pretty cool, too…someday…

**Chapter 15**

They were awaked by raised voices outside the door.

"I wish to see my son," a woman's voice said. Ray's face went pale. _Oh God, she's going to see me and die. I'm going to be responsible for the death of my mother._

Stella seemed to know what he was thinking. "It's going to be fine, Ray. I'm telling you, she's stronger than you think she is."

They waited. She did not come in. They could not make out the muffled conversation going on outside his room.

Stella went out into the hallway to see what was delaying Ray's mother.

There was Jo, trying to keep Mrs. Beech from entering the room. "Ma'am, your husband expressed that you should wait for him to see his son first, before you go in. Maybe you can get a cup of coffee?"

Mrs. Beech had Ray's exact eye color. Her blonde hair was straightened and shoulder-length. She had that casual yet completely put together sense of style that was typical of people of her class.

Right now, Stella saw in Mrs. Beech's eyes something that she had seen in Ray countless times in the past: a rising anger.

Mrs. Beech spoke calmly, but her tone was unmistakable. "He is _my _son as well, Miss. I am his _mother_. I _will _see my son. If you will excuse me."

Jo stood in front of the door, "Mrs. Beech, I'm afraid that is not possible. Your husband-"

Stella intervened, "Mrs. Beech? Come right in. Ray is eager to see you. He has missed you very much. He looks really good!"

Jo wheeled on Stella, "Stella, dear, this is not your business."

"Joanna, she has the right to see her son." Stella knew that, of all the disorderly things in a hospital that bothered Jo, noise was the worst. There was no way Jo was going to let Mrs. Beech start yelling (which Stella would find a way to make happen, if necessary), and there was also no way that Jo was going to physically stop them from entering the room. Stella opened the door to Ray's room, and she motioned for Mrs. Beech to enter.

"Oh my baby boy!" Mrs. Beech said upon seeing her son.

_Crap!_ Stella realized she might have made a huge mistake. Maybe this woman really was as fragile as everyone said she was.

"Hi mom," said Ray in a raspy voice.

"Mrs. Beech? He's actually much improved." Mrs. Beech turned to face Stella. "You are….?"

"Stella Yamada. I'm a friend of Scott's…and Ray's." Stella continued. "Honestly, the worst of his injuries is a broken leg. The cuts on his arm and the burns on his face are very small, and they're shrinking every day. His throat got hit by the air bag, so his vocal cords got injured. He can talk, but he shouldn't. He went off the IV and was eating regular food yesterday!"

Mrs. Beech recovered quickly from her initial shock. She was also dumb-founded by the whirlwind speech from this girl she had never seen before. This young lady seemed to care a great deal for her son, and this warmed her heart immediately to the girl.

She sat in the chair, next to her son. She brushed hair from his forehead and asked, "are you hurt, Raymond?"

"No, momma, not at all." Ray was immensely relieved that his mom was all right. He was grateful to Stella for making that happen. If Stella hadn't intervened, Ray's father would have seen him first, and then he would have kept his mother from seeing him. Not seeing Ray would have triggered her imagination that he was much worse off than he was, and she really would have fallen apart.

"How was your trip?" he asked. "It was lovely," she said, "well, at first it was…" She looked pointedly at Ray, and they both smiled. They had the same smile.

There was another disturbance outside the door. "What do you _mean_ she's in there?" said a man's voice. "I told you _specifically _to keep her out of there until I saw him _first_. She can't handle that kind of stress."

Ray and Mrs. Beech both looked up. Stella jumped and walked toward the door. "I got it."

Mr. Beech also had blonde hair. Though he kept it short, there were hints of curls to it, like his children. His eyes were Amanda's, blue with a steel-gray wash. His was a glare that you did not want to be at the receiving end of.

"Sir, it was me. She had a right to…" Mr. Beech turned to face Stella, and she trailed off. Stella now knew where Ray got his commanding presence from.

"Young lady, do you have _any _idea what you could be doing to her?" Stella immediately regretted what she had done. "I'm sorry, sir. But…she…wanted…to see him."

"You foolish girl!"

That woke Stella up. "She is FINE! And so is he. Go and see for yourself."

Mr. Beech entered Ray's room, and he was met by the very peaceful sight of a mother sitting with her son, quietly talking together. His ferocious countenance immediately changed. The relief that his wife was all right softened his constantly stiff edge. He approached his son.

Ray found that he actually was very happy to see his mother. He was, however, still nervous about his father. But he was ready to face him. When his dad entered the room, he looked up, and he made eye contact. Mr. Beech said, "Hello, son. How are you?"

"I'm fine, Dad. Have you seen Amanda?" Ray's voice was starting to fade again. The doctor told him not to talk at all for at least two weeks.

"Yes, I did. And Raymond, she told me everything. Thank-you, son. I'm so glad you are both all right."

Ray couldn't believe his ears. But he was grateful and accepted it. At the end of the day, parents are much more concerned about their children's well-being than absolutely anything else, it turned out.

Stella, who was standing against the wall, heard someone behind her.

"Hi, Momma," said Amanda, in a small voice.

Ray's mom looked up from her son to her daughter. "Amanda, baby!" She stood up and gently embraced her daughter, to avoid hurting her ribs.

Stella thought this was a good time to leave. She should have left earlier, but she felt the need to make sure Ray's dad didn't yell at him. She had become quite protective of Mesa High's resident king and bully.

She stood in the fresh sunshine air, just like she had only a couple of days before. This time, she was not relieved to get out of there, and as far away from Ray Beech as possible. This time, she found a part of herself wishing that Charlie's mom hadn't found Ray's parents just yet.

_Well, that's ridiculous._ Family should be together, and it even seemed that they were perhaps better off for the whole ordeal. Stella was very happy for them for that.

_It's just that…_she wanted to keep this version of Ray Beech around for a little while longer. Stella was certain that, once he returned to school, he would revert to his old awful self.

Stella sighed. _It was a fun couple of days_. She got to spend quality time with an incredibly good-looking guy. And bonus: his insufferable personality was kept in check by his inability to talk.

Stella was not being honest with herself. The past couple of days had grown to mean much more to her than that. But the flippant attitude approach was her way of building her armor against the inevitable – and disappointing – future.


	16. Chapter 16

I don't own Lemonade Mouth.

**Chapter 16**

Scott pulled up to Mo's house. He always picked her up for school first. That gave them a little time alone together. He walked up to the door and rang the bell. He did this every day. Mr. Banerjee was making a _huge_ concession in allowing them to date. Taking a couple of extra minutes to properly stop the car and walk up to the door to take Mo to school every day seemed like a tiny inconvenience in comparison.

Mrs. Banerjee answered. Mo was directly behind her, attempting to keep herself from barreling past her mother and running out the door.

"Good morning!" said Scott. "Good morning, Scott," replied Mrs. Banerjee. "Monu, it's time to go!"

Mo gave her mother a kiss and left.

"This still seems so strange, that you can just walk right up and get me everyday!" said Mo to Scott as they were leaving. Scott smiled at her, and opened the passenger door for her. They drove down the street, turned the corner, and Scott pulled over. "Now, for a proper good morning." He pulled her in his arms, and he kissed his girlfriend. Mo giggled.

As they drove again, to pick up the others, Mo brought up the latest news. "So, Charlie says that Ray's parents arrived early this morning?"

"Yeah," said Scott, "and also, Ray gets out of the hospital today!"

"Really? He looked pretty beat up when I saw him."

"Well, yesterday's exam revealed that the cuts and burns are all minor and healing just fine. His vocal chords will heal on their own with voice rest. And so really the only lasting injury is the broken leg. He can recover at home just as easily as in the hospital. Better, probably, because he can get his rest."

"True," replied Mo, and then with a wicked grin, "But he won't have is cutie little nurse to help him…"

"Mohini Banerjee!" said Scott, in a joking tone but with genuine surprise, "Do I detect cattiness?"

"Not at all, sweetheart!" Mo cried in protest of his accusation. "It's just…well…what's going on there? What do you think?"

"I have no idea," said Scott.

"Why did she volunteer to stay with him _all _yesterday? You don't really buy that she was trying to let you get some rest, right? And that math tutor thing? Really?"

"Ray is actually pretty good at math…"

"Scott."

"OK, it did seem like a kinda flimsy excuse…I don't know…maybe she likes him?"

"WHAT?"

"What else is it, then?"

"Maybe a hot dude nurse?"

"Who's _way _older than her? I don't think so. That's totally illegal, and though we guys will pretty much get it where we can, we do have a thing against going to prison."

Mo shook her head in disbelief, "Stella? And Ray? That's just crazy. They hate each other, and their values are exact opposites, and, well, they hate each other."

"Well…" began Scott, "I know you will find this hard to believe, but there is goodness in Ray. Maybe being hospitalized is bringing it out in him? And you know very well that Stella has a way of finding people's hidden talents and strengths and bringing out their best. How else could she get Olivia to perform?"

"Sweetie, I think that has more to do with Wen than Stella…"

Scott, being male and not taking notice of these things, looked genuinely surprised. "Oh! Really? Wow. But I stand by what I said about Stella. Mo, baby, love is strange and unpredictable. If we live in a world where your father lets you be with me…"

Mo interrupted, "…and you, the great Scott Pickett, would risk all reputation to help a freshman.."

"WOAH, not 'a freshman', sweetie. The girl I love."

"Oh yeah, that!" Mo smiled huge. She never got tired of hearing Scott say that.

Scott took her hand, "If we live in a world where you and I can happen, we live in a world where Ray and Stella can happen. We're here." They pulled up to Charlie's house. Scott honked his horn, and Charlie came running out.

"Hey, guys!" said Charlie. "The super wealthy energy drink king and queen eagles have landed!"

"Thanks entirely to your awesome mom," said Mo.

"Yeah…and…Stacy."

"NO WAY!" said Mo.

"Up to speed, please?" asked Scott, as they made their way to Stella's house.

"Stacy is Charlie's number one groupie!"

"Fan, they prefer fan," said Charlie. "Groupie has a sordid connotation."

"Sordid? Connotation? Have we been studying for the SAT again?" asked Mo.

"Maybe…" confessed Charlie.

"OK, here's what happened. It turns out, his parents _were _on Azure. Mom called during lunch yesterday to tell me that she was working on the red tape. So, I told her that I had an in. I worked the Charlie Charm on Stacy," Mo rolled her eyes, Scott high-fived him, "and she helped me find Ray's parents. But she had another condition."

Mo paled. "Charlie, no! You're NOT dating her."

"Why not?" said Scott. "What's wrong with Charlie getting a little romance?"

Mo elbowed Scott. "Yeah, because Lemonade Mouth needs a rep of a womanizing drummer?"

"Oh…" Scott still didn't really see the problem with that, but he decided to take the path of least resistance and agree with his girlfriend.

Charlie reassured Mo. "No, Reputation Police, I did not agree to a date with her. And before you ask the next question, I called her from a pay phone so that she does not have my cell. number."

Mo sighed relief. "So, what was the condition?"

"She runs a Lemonade Mouth fan blog, and she asked me to give an interview and live chat."

"Neat!" said Scott, then he looked at Mo. "Right?" Mo nodded sagely.

Mo asked, "So, when is it? Does she want anyone else in the band for the interview?"

They pulled up to Stella's house and waited as she ran out the door.

Charlie looked embarrassed. "Actually…no. It was last night. They have a…sort of…weekly…We Love Charlie Night."

Mo and Scott exploded in laughter, just as Stella was getting into the car.

"What," she asked. "Am I wearing my jammies to school again?" She looked down at her pants to double check.

"No," said Mo, and she told her Charlie's story.

"Fantastic!" said Stella.

"So…Stella…how was your night?" asked Mo.

"Did you get your math done?" asked Scott. Mo elbowed him again. "Cut that out!" he said.

Stella eyed the two of them. She had no idea what to tell them. They were her best friends and should know the truth. But what the heck was the truth of this situation anyway? She was not going to "girl talk" this one. She decided to change the subject.

"Don't Wen and Olivia get back today? Man, I miss them!"

"Oh yeah, they do!" cried Mo.

"Wait, you're letting her change the subject?" said Scott.

"Which subject?" asked Charlie. "Oh yeah, that weird Ray tutoring Stella in math thing? So, what's up with that, Stella? Do you like him or something?"

"Wow," said Mo. "Guys have no concept of subtlety, do they?"

Stella said, "I was too tired to tackle math. So I worked on English." Then she remembered, but she tried to say it as matter-of-factly as possible. "Oh, and Ray wrote us a song."

They had just pulled into a parking spot. "Seriously, Stella, if you want to give people heart attacks, you should really wait until they're not driving you places," said Scott.

"No really, he did." said Stella. "Charlie, you're going to catch flies if you don't close your mouth. Didn't your mother ever tell you that? Scott, what's the big deal?"

"Ray is _incredibly_ possessive of his song-writing. He _only _writes for Mudslide Crush. He wouldn't even write a song for a sophomore English project. He took the F instead."

"Well," said Stella, "he said he wanted to thank us for everything we did for him. I have the note to prove it. And the song? It's really good."

"I don't doubt that," said Scott. "It's just the giving it away part that puzzles me. Unless…"

"What?" "What?" "Unless what?" Mo and Stella pestered him.

The bell rang. "Ack! I can't be late to 1st period again!" panicked Stella, and she ran off. Charlie also split off to go to his class. Mo's 1st period teacher never even looked up from his computer screen until after morning announcements, so she had time.

"WHAT is it, Scott?"

"Well," said Scott, "maybe a certain Raymond Beech is feeling a little somethin'-somethin' for our Miss Stella."


	17. Chapter 17

I don't own Lemonade Mouth. But I'm having an awful lot of fun borrowing it!

**Chapter 17**

The music complex was something that was usually seen on a college campus. It had an auditorium, several music classrooms, and an entire hallway of practice rooms. Because Lemonade Mouth was the reason for this great addition (in addition, of course, to Mel, whom could never be thanked enough for what he gave to that school), they were given permanent residence of the best practice room. It was at the front of the building, and it had a window with a view of the campus. There were blinds, for privacy. But they frequently practiced with the blinds open, especially when they rehearsed after school.

They usually held practice after school, at least whoever was available on any given day did. Between Scott's soccer practice, Mo's various extra credit projects, and Wen's piano lessons, it was rare that they were all together at once. Surprisingly, though, they did manage to get a lot of work done no matter who was there. These past few days, however, they didn't have practice at all due to visiting Ray. Now, with Ray back home, they could resume their rehearsals.

Stella entered the room and was about to pass out copies of Ray's song. But Mo stopped her. "Look who's here!" she said.

They all looked out the window and saw Wen and Olivia approaching the practice room. "And LOOK!" said Mo, pointing at the space between Wen and Olivia. That space was occupied by their interlaced hands.

Stella shot out of the practice room like a bullet. Before even greeting them, she grabbed their entwined hands and held them up and shook them victoriously, as if congratulating the winning boxer at the end of a match. "What is this? You guys!"

Wen and Olivia blushed several shades of pink and red and smiled. "Yeah, well," said Olivia.

"I thought you guys were just covering for Mo!" said Stella, referring to Olivia's famous "dating-ish" speech on Moxie's show.

"Well, we kinda were, sort of," said Wen. "But not really. I've been crazy about her forever, and I've been too stupid to say anything."

Mo approached. "It's about time you got smart. What's not to love about this girl?" Wen nodded and put his arm around Olivia's waist, pulling her closer to him.

"I'm so happy to see you guys!" said Stella. "I've missed you. And I'm SO happy to see THIS!" she gestured to their being together. Stella did feel a twinge of longing at the sight of two of her best friends involved together. But mostly, she felt enormously happy for them.

"How's Ray?" Olivia asked.

"He's doing really well, actually," said Scott. "He's home from the hospital and he texted me earlier today to say that his parents are keeping him home for the rest of the week. He'll be back next week."

"I'm not sure how I feel about that," said Charlie. Scott raised an eyebrow at him. "NO, it's not that I'm not glad he's all right…but…"

Olivia spoke up, "Scott, you've never been on the receiving end of the awfulness of those people, so you don't really know what it's like for the rest of us. I know they're your friends, but they're just not nice people."

Scott nodded consent. Olivia rarely spoke her mind, but when she did, she spoke the truth. And the truth she that articulated was usually something that everyone else was not brave enough to say out loud. It was one of her hidden talents.

"For once, we're actually all here! So, let's practice." said Stella.

Mo took Olivia's arm as they walked into the practice room. "You're never going to believe what Stella has for us to practice today." Mo said.

"He did WHAT?" Wen was being brought up to speed by Charlie. "Ray Beech wrote a song for us," Charlie repeated.

"This ought to be interesting," said Wen.

Stella passed out copies of the song. She had written ideas for tempo and for vocals.

"Most of the song should be sung by Olivia. When there are chords, Mo you take the third. And Charlie, you take the fifth."

"Why do you insist on giving me high notes?" whined Charlie.

"Because you have a beautiful high register," stated Stella. "But just take it down an octave if you want. A lower fifth will be good, too."

Everyone looked over the song and Stella's notes. They liked the song and were ready to give it a try.

"Oh, one more thing," said Stella. "I want to sing the bridge. Is that ok?" Everyone shrugged and nodded their consent. Stella said to Charlie, "There are no vocal chords in the bridge. It's just me. So you can rest easy!" Charlie gave her a wry half-smile. "Thanks, dear," he said.

They spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening working on the song, putting it together.

After rehearsal, they had dinner at Dante's, and Wen filled them in on the show they still had to fulfill to make up for missing the CD signing.

"The tour is only in our town for one night, and it's a small venue. They're actually just trying to help a new club get off the ground. The owner of the club is a family friend or something."

"What's the club?" asked Mo.

"It's called Az."

"I think I've heard of that place," said Scott. "They have different events each night. Thursdays are all-ages nights."

"That's when we're playing," said Wen, "next Thursday."

"Hey, maybe we do the new song?" suggested Stella, trying as hard as possible to sound casual.

Everyone looked at her. "You mean, the one that Ray Beech wrote?" asked Olivia. "I didn't think we'd actually perform it. I just thought it was kinda for practicing…."

Wen said, "It's a good song. We should do it."

Olivia didn't care for that idea. But she gave it, although not without at least a tiny, albeit weak, protest. "We can't perform something that doesn't have a name."

Stella said, "That's easily solved. How about, 'In My Place'?" She was referring to one of the lines from the bridge. She was also mentally wandering off to the place where she'd like to be…

Charlie brought her back to Earth. "That's too generic. Let's think through what it's about." Charlie started rambling through various lyrics, "life is good…life gets interrupted….life gets better…how about 'Good Life Interrupted'?"

Olivia objected. "Sounds funereal."

"More fancy vocab!" said Stella.

Mo looked out into nowhere, mumbling lyrics and switching them around, then shaking her head repeatedly. Then she said, "I've got it. 'Good Interrupted'."

"Oooo!" cried Stella.

"Nice one, babe!" said Scott.

"So, now that there aren't any official objections," said Wen, looking sympathetically at Olivia, "it's in."

"Hey, I think I have a right to be skeptical about this supposed New Ray thing," said Olivia.

"Of course you do!" said Stella. "In fact, I don't think there really is a 'new Ray'. I think he was high on the pain meds, and he had a temporary lapse in judgment. So, we got a song out of it."

Everyone stared at Stella. "But…I thought…you…" said Charlie.

"Don't." said Stella. "Let's be honest here. 'A Christmas Carol' is fiction. No one in reality ever goes from bad to good in one night, even if visited by ghosts."

"Aw, but if it's three days, and if the visitor is a lovely angel who is a genius at bringing out the best in those around her..." said Mo. She put her arm around Stella's shoulder and gave her a squeeze.

It's not that Mo was thrilled about Stella being involved with Ray. But she also didn't like the bit of spark that seemed to be missing from Stella today. She was pretty sure that it had to do with Ray. If Scott was right, and Ray did have some level of goodness in him, now would be a good time for him to let it show.

Stella returned Mo's gesture by tilting her head on Mo's shoulder for a moment. Then, she sat up straight, and she shrugged. "Look, we all know that once the beast is in his natural habitat, he will return to his former ways. So, let's enjoy the couple of Ray-free days that we have left at school."

The next day, they miraculously arrived at school early. On their way to their lockers, once away from the boys, Mo and Stella started to pester Olivia.

"Out with it!" prodded Stella. "How did it happen?"

"We're dying to know!" said Mo.

"Oh, ok," said Olivia, looking around. "There were these British groupies, and a _super cute _security guard, and an elevator…" They were at their lockers.

"Now, try it again, making sense this time," said Stella.

Olivia told her story, careful to leave out certain details, the things that she wanted to keep just for her and Wen.

"…then he hit all the buttons for all the floors…" Mo and Stella howled in laughter, and they rounded a corner.

Then, they stopped in silence. There, in the doorway of the main entrance of the school, stood Ray Beech.


	18. Chapter 18

I'm sorry about last chapter's cliff-hanger. I hate them, too! But it was the most logical place for the chapter to end. I hope this chapter makes up for it.

I don't own Lemonade Mouth.

**Chapter 18**

Stella's stomach shoved up into her heart, which shoved up into her throat and made her gasp out loud. She tried to keep the gasp quiet, and so a sort of choked gargle sound came out. Mo and Olivia exchanged a look. They knew that sound, as they had made it on many an occasion, when taken by surprise by Scott or Wen.

Ray made eye contact with Stella. She began to melt inside. She feared that perhaps she might have wobbled a little bit, because she felt Mo holding her elbow.

_Crap! This is NOT good._ And yet, she could not deny that she felt incredibly happy to see him. However, for once in her life, she had no idea what to do or say.

Ray had not expected to see Stella this quickly. He stood in the doorway to the school, unusually unsure as to how to handle himself. And this had nothing to do with juggling crutches, a backpack, and his talking book.

Stella looked particularly beautiful today. She was always beautiful, but this time she was well-rested, and he had apparently caught her in the middle of hearing something funny. She had a great laugh. There was no giggle to Stella. When she laughed, it rang through the hallways and beckoned everyone around her to get in on the joke.

But now she just stared at him. Did he look that bad? Should he have stayed home? Was he still a mess of scars? He had taken care to clean up today. Shaving over the healing burns was not fun. But he had to get out, wanted to get back to school, did not want to go a day without seeing her. He couldn't fight it anymore. He didn't want to.

The trouble was, he had no idea what she was thinking, feeling. She seemed attracted to him, but girls often did that when they pitied someone who was sick or injured. Once they were actually back to reality, and he didn't have the injuries, would she have any interest in him?

_Only one way to find out._ He faced her, and he started to walk/crutch to her. Stella also started to walk toward him. The corners of his mouth began to make their ascent to a smile. She smiled back. They got as close as ten feet apart, when he was accosted by his circle of friends.

They surrounded him and greeted him with hand-shakes, "Hey, bro"s, and hugs. And the girls squeeled. Repeatedly.

_Pretty People barrier_. Stella cursed her stupidity. He was definitely _not_ smiling at her. It was probably one of his buddies who had been standing behind her. She felt so foolish!

"Our Ray is back!" squeeled Patty. "How're you feeling, sweetie?" she linked her arm inside of his.

Scott made his way through the crowd. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

Ray disengaged his arm from Patty, and he retrieved his pen and notebook. It was Stella's notebook. He wrote, "GOT BORED."

"Dude, to go to school on purpose? That had to be REALLY bored!" said Dean, the drummer from Mudslide Crush. Ray shrugged.

"I'm glad you're feeling better, Ray" said Jules. Ray nodded at her, and he wrote, "THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, JULES." She nodded and smiled.

Patty re-attached herself to Ray. "Sweetie, we have some lost time to make up for!" Ray lowered a withering glare at his ex-girlfriend, and he detached himself from her again.

He gave Scott a pleading look. "All right people, give the man some space." Scott directed traffic away from Ray. The crowd dispersed. Patty tossed one more flirtatious look over her shoulder at Ray before trotting down the hallway.

Ray wrote, "WHAT WAS THAT?"

Scott replied, "What? Patty? Oh, she's probably trying to re-establish her position at the side of the school's ruler." Ray raised an eyebrow. A week ago, he would have loved that idea, that a girl would throw herself at him, just for the sake of being seen with him. Now, that wasn't enough….

Once the crowd dispersed, he looked for Stella. She was gone.

Stella dreaded lunch. The rest of the day, she could successfully avoid seeing Ray and his loving reunions. But there was no escape at lunch. They were all force to eat in the cafeteria or the quad. Lame. Stella found her friends' table, and she sat with her back to the rest of the room.

"Hey, there's Ray," said Scott. There went the heart/stomach do-si-do again. Stella wanted to jump up and run to him. She at least wanted to see him, to sit up and crane her neck around until she found him, and then stare, just stare. However, she restrained herself. She ducked her head down, and took an sudden intense interest in her cheese sandwich.

"Is he? Really? I don't believe it." said Mo.

"What?" said Stella.

"See for yourself." Ray was standing in line to get his food.

"So?" said Stella, but she was happy for the excuse to look for him.

"No way!" said Wen.

Mo saw that Stella was still confused. "Stella, have you ever seen Ray Beech stand in line for anything?"

Come to think of it, she hadn't.

They were not the only ones to notice. Little by little, everyone else in the cafeteria took furtive glances at the Great Ray Beech, standing in line for his lunch. Usually, he would make someone on the freshman soccer team to all of it: stand in line, pay, bring his food to him. He didn't think he could bring himself to make nice-nice to everyone around him, but part of Stella's speech did make sense to him: "you could consider just leaving people alone." He could do that.

After he paid, he stood at the register, puzzling how to hold his tray and his crutches. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small brunette head shoot up and race over to him.

"Didn't grow a third arm?" said Stella, grabbing his tray. Ray shrugged. He was grateful for her help, and incredibly happy to be so near her. Now that she was so close to him, she didn't feel nervous about him anymore. She said quietly, "You look good," and she smiled at him. He returned her smile.

But too many eyes on them kept them from returning to the comfort they had enjoyed in his hospital room. And Stella was still convinced that Ray could not change.

"Where to?" she asked.

_Away, just you and me, far from here, _thought Ray. But as for an actual answer, he had no idea. He didn't want to go to his usual table, and he didn't really belong among Stella's friends. The soccer team was a safe bet, so he nodded in their direction.

After they got to the soccer table, Stella placed his tray down, and said, "Here we are. There you go. Bye!" She gave a little wave that in retrospect looked incredibly stupid in her mind's eye, and she bolted back to her table.

Patty made her way _yet again_ to Ray at his table. "Hey there, hottie. Can I sign your cast?"

_This girl is unbelievable_. She did not take a single hint, not this morning, not during any of their classes together, and not now.

He found his (Stella's) notebook, and he wrote, "WE NEED TO TALK." And in the way that popular people have with getting around school rules, the two of them left the cafeteria together.

Stella watched them leave, and her heart sank. She knew this would happen, and she had tried to arm herself to it. But it just didn't work. It still hurt to see it.

Everything hurt. She needed to find privacy, to pull herself together. She did not need for anyone – especially her friends – to see her like this. She excused herself from the table, asked the security guard permission to use the restroom, and left the caf.

Behind one of the staircases, there was a small space where couples often retreated for private moments throughout the school day. Ray led Patty there. Once Patty saw their destination, she giggled and blotted off her lip gloss, readying herself for a little making up make-out.

Once there, Ray yanked out the notebook and wrote, "WE BROKE UP."

"What are you talking about? Did Stella say that? That little lying…"

She was interrupted by the notebook once again being shoved at her. "WHAT MAKES YOU SAY STELLA?"

Quickly trying to cover her blunder, Patty said, "Hey, everyone knows that she was going over every day to visit you. I think she has a thing for you. You saw how she jumped up like a little eager puppy to help you carry your lunch tray. So, she must have lied to you to keep us apart." _Whew, that was a close one!_

"THEN WHY DID YOU ONLY COME ONCE TO SEE ME, AND WITH A GRIP OF PEOPLE?"

Patty replied, "Honey, I had cheerleading practice, and a ton of work, and there's all these tests, and the SAT is coming up. I was totally swamped!" She snuggled in close to him. "Don't be angry, sweetie. You know how much I heart you. Come on, baby, let's just put all of this behind us." She leaned in to give him a kiss on his neck.

Ray pulled away from her and put down his notebook. He wanted her to be completely clear about this, and a little bit of talking was not going to harm his voice recovery.

"Either way, I don't want to be with you anymore."

"You can't be serious."

Ray raised an eyebrow at her.

"What, just because I didn't visit you? You're being ridiculous. I'll give you a couple of day to cool off."

"Patty, it's not gonna happen," he said, his voice getting raspy from overuse.

"You have got to be kidding me. Ray, you're making a big mistake here. When you come back to your senses, don't come crawling to me!" She turned and stormed off.

In the restroom, Stella splashed some cold water on her face and took a few deep breaths. _There, no trace of tears or redness_. She stayed a couple of minutes longer to steady her breathing before returning to the cafeteria.

As Stella walked past a stairway, a crutch shot out from Lovers' Cove, nearly clotheslining her.

"Hey!" she shouted in annoyance. Then, she realized that there was only one person on this campus on crutches….

Just then, she heard the footsteps of a security guard rounding the corner to this part of the hallway. She readied herself to walk back to the cafeteria, when a hand shot out and pulled her into the Cove.

Stella lost her footing, and fell…right against Ray's chest. All the work she'd done in the restroom to steady her breathing had completely fallen apart. Her breath came in short quick spurts, sending her heartbeat into a tailspin. The way she landed had her ear against Ray's chest, and she could hear his heart racing, too. She couldn't prevent a happy sigh from escaping. Then, Ray put his arms around her. She _loved_ it. She was completely enveloped by Ray Beech, and she had no will to fight herself any longer. This is definitely where she wanted to be, more than anywhere.

She nearly raised her arms to return the embrace, when her good sense returned to her. She pulled herself away, and she let him have it.

"NO! I don't want you like this! I know you're back with Patty. I saw you two leave the caf together. You don't get to have an appropriate-for-your-crowd girlfriend and then a little somethin' on the side. I will not be your little secret prize!" She started to pace, hoping that the movement would push away the memory of being held by him, and give her the strength to say everything else she didn't want to, but had to, say.

"This is unbelievable. I knew it. I _knew _it was too good to be true that you could change. I knew that once you came back to school, you'd revert to your old self. I just didn't realize that it would happen so quickly! Fine, if you want it to all go back to the way it all was before, then it's _all the way_. So, we go back to staying far away from one another. Just ignore me, and I'll ignore you, and then we can peacefully co-exist." She began to walk away, but as she did, she said, to herself but intentionally loud enough for him to hear it, "_How_ could I be so stupid! I'm so stupid!" And she disappeared down the hallway, muttering similar self-deprecations to herself.

Ray let out a frustrated breath, and he slammed his fist against the wall. Why did this need to be so difficult? He just wanted to see her alone for a minute, without all the prying eyes of the school on them. He did not expect her to trip and fall on top of him. But he certainly didn't mind that she did. She was in his arms, like the last night at the hospital. And again, everything felt right, better than right. Better than anything.

And all too quickly, it stopped. Back to square one. Now what was there to do? There was certainly no trying to talk to her. He was far too familiar with Angry Stella. He knew better than to go near her at this point.

He had to be patient. Ray Beech did not do patient. He wanted, and he got. This was new.

But she was worth it.


	19. Chapter 19

I don't own Lemonade Mouth.

**Chapter 19**

Luckily for Stella, there was only one more school day to the week, and then the glorious weekend. They did a show on Saturday night at Dante's.

Mr. and Mrs. Dante had given them their first regular gig, and even though Lemonade Mouth's fame was beyond the capacity of the pizza place, they still played shows at Dante's whenever they could, as a gesture of thanks. It was an enormous boost to business, and Mr. Dante frequently offered the band a portion of the profits on the nights they performed. They always refused. They loved doing their shows there, and that was plenty payment for them.

Stella called a rehearsal for Sunday, as it was another rare day that everyone was free. Because the club where they were to perform that upcoming Thursday was comparatively small to the recent venues where they had played, they assumed they were headlining that night. So, they knew they needed to put together a solid set.

Stella did not want to arouse anyone's suspicions about her feelings for Ray, so she did not try to remove "Good Interrupted" from the set. She decided that it was best to just put her nose to the grindstone and get to work.

However, at rehearsal, it was clear to everyone else that Stella was out of sorts. Her playing had a hard edge to it. She kept making mistakes, cursing herself, and then trying again, but more aggressively. Finally, she broke a guitar string. "Blast!" she shouted.

"OK," said Scott, "let's take a break. Wen, Charlie, and I will go get some Mel's.

"Thanks, Scott. Let me get some cash," said Stella.

"I've got it! You get the next one. Hey, Mo?" and he nodded at her to come see him privately for a moment.

He said quietly, "While we're gone, could you please find out what's wrong and try to fix it? We're never going to get anything done with her like this."

"Sure thing!" she replied, and gave him a small see-you-soon kiss.

Once the boys were gone, Mo and Olivia turned on Stella, who was furiously working to attach a new string to her guitar.

"Stella, what's going on?" Mo asked.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Clearly, which is why you're breaking strings and cursing right and left?" said Olivia.

Stella let out an angry, frustrated sigh. "Nothing gets past you guys, does it?"

"Of course not," said Mo, pretending to not notice Stella's sarcasm. She continued, "You know that Ray and Patty broke up, right?"

"But they got back together," retorted Stella before she had the chance to stop herself.

"A-ha!" said Olivia. "So you _do _like him!"

Another sigh. Stella glowered at the air in front of her. Then, her face melted into sadness. "I liked the side of him that I saw in the hospital. But now he's his old self again, and even though I knew it was going to happen, I'm still disappointed. But there's nothing I can do about it, except let the time pass for this to get out of my system."

"That's pretty frustrating," said Olivia. "But, Stell, are you absolutely sure that he doesn't maybe care for you?"

"On Thursday at lunch, he yanked me into Lover's Cove right after he had a little sesh in there with Patty. I think he thought I could be his little action on the side."

"Really? Oh, Stella, that's awful!" cried Olivia.

Mo was typing into her phone and frowning at the screen. "That doesn't make any sense, Stella. Look, both Patty's and Ray's online profiles say that they're single. And Patty's status from Thursday says 'He'll be sorry…'"

Stella was completely confused. She dared not hope, but maybe she should have given Ray a chance to explain himself. After all, her greatest criticism of him was that he judged people without knowing all the facts about them. And here she had just done the same thing to him.

Just then, the boys returned. Scott heard the last thing that Mo said, and he interjected, "Oh, you looking at Patty's sad proclamations?" He rolled his eyes.

"She pulling all the Drama Queen stops, since Ray Beech broke up with her?" said Wen.

"Look at you guys, all into the girly gossip!" teased Mo. She was trying to deflect their attention away from Stella, who was suddenly very quiet and had stopped working on her guitar altogether.

"It's impossible to avoid," said Scott. "We have almost all the same classes together, and she won't stop whining about it."

"OK!" said Stella, a little forcefully. However, she was definitely in a lighter mood than before. "Let's get back to work. And I promise to stop sabotaging the music!"

That week in school, there were more sightings of strange behavior from Ray Beech. He walked past freshmen without doing anything to them. He did not trip them with his crutches or shove them out of his way. Then, he went to his own locker only. He removed the locks that he had put on the 4 lockers around his, giving the lockers back to their original owners. He continued to stand in line and buy his own lunch (Scott helped him with the tray). And one day, Dean fumbled the books out of the arms of a particularly small sophomore and said, "oops, you're so tiny, I thought you were a freshman!" He turned to Ray to high-five him. Ray glared at Dean, and then he _stooped to the floor and picked up the kid's books_. When the sophomore thanked him, Ray nodded curtly at him and left the scene. Dean did not say anything. Even though Dean was a senior, he was completely under Ray's control and would never dream of crossing him.

Stella either saw or heard about all of this. She did not want to get her hopes up, but this did seem like much improved behavior from Ray. She was too nervous to be anywhere near him. In case he did like her, she felt embarrassed for laying into him. In case he did not like her, she needed to honor their mutual avoidance code.

Ray did like Stella, a great deal. But he was not doing any of this to impress her. He was tired of being feared and hated. And because he cared so much for Stella, her words had made an impression on him. He thought that perhaps he could lead without intimidation. Or perhaps he did not need to lead at all. With or without Stella, this would be his new approach to life at school.

Nevertheless, "with Stella" was a much better option than without her. He had no idea how he could get through to her. Frankly, he had no idea how to get _to_ her at all. She stayed as far away from him as possible. After her tirade the previous week, she'd clearly wanted nothing to do with him. She had to know the truth by now, but for whatever reason, she stayed away from him.

_She must have gotten over the sick-boy pity attraction and is embarrassed by the whole thing._ Ray had never experienced a girl he wanted not wanting him back. However, his disappointment in not receiving Stella's affections was not simply an ego let-down. It was _her _that he missed. There had to be a way…

Thursday morning's announcements opened with some chords from "Determinate" crackling through the ancient P.A. system. "Hey folks, don't forget to get out of your curfew and come see our very own LEMONADE MOUTH tonight at Az! It's all ages, and there are rumors that there might be a new song premiered…"

Ray's head shot up at that. _It couldn't be…_ He held his phone under his desk and texted Scott. "New song?" Scott wrote back, "Yeah dude, come see what we did with what you wrote! It's totally sick!"

This could be his chance…


	20. Chapter 20

We're getting there! I don't want the story to end. It has been a blast to write it. But these two kids just have to get together for once and for all!

I don't own Lemonade Mouth.

**Chapter 20**

There were three other bands performing, but Lemonade Mouth had been given an early call time. They had enough experience by then to know that some clubs, especially new ones, were highly concerned about getting all the tech issues worked out before the night began. So, they weren't terribly surprised by the early call time.

They were, however, surprised by their place in the line-up. They were _not _the headliners for the night. Each band was told to perform for no longer than a half hour, and there was no headliner. In these set-ups, one of two things almost always happened: one of the earlier bands in the evening performed for too long, thereby shortening everyone else's set or bumping out the last band altogether. Or, everyone complied, until the last band, who would play an extra-long set, acting as if they were the headliner.

The members of Lemonade Mouth were annoyed at this news. Usually, they were happy to perform wherever and whenever they got the chance. But this was during the week, and it was difficult to get out to the venue. Furthermore, most of the club was packed with their fans. It seemed only fair that they should get to perform longer, since the club's earnings intake that night was due almost entirely to Lemonade Mouth performing there that night.

Mr. Gifford was trying to work this out with the owner when Ray walked up. "What's going on?" he asked Scott (his voice was nearly entirely recovered by then).

"Hey, man! I'm glad you could make it!" Scott filled him in on the line-up situation.

"You have got to be kidding me." said Ray. "Where are you in the line-up?"

"Third."

"Who's after you?"

"Wingéd Eyeliner."

Ray curled his lip and rolled his eyes in disgust. "Who comes up with these ridiculous names?"

By this point, Stella had approached them.

"Well, you came up with ours," said Stella. She was trying desparately to sound casual, to try to hide how happy she was to see him. Ray, however, nearly jumped at the sound of her voice.

He also tried, ineffectively, to sound calm. His voice came out in a higher-than-natural tone. "I was trying to insult you at the time. If I'd known you were going to make it a household name, I'd have gotten a copyright on it."

Stella shrugged. Then she turned to Scott, "We've got to rearrange the set. For one thing, I don't want to premiere the new song here. They don't deserve that prestige. We can do it at Dante's on Saturday, which seems fitting. Don't you think?" Scott was nodding in agreement.

But Ray would have none of it. He had been patient for long enough. He didn't know whether or not he would ever get to win over Stella, but one thing was certain: he _had_ to hear that song, and _now_. "Mind if I give it a try?" He nodded in the direction of Wen's dad trying to talk to the club owner.

Stella looked at Scott. Scott said, "Let him. He used to do this kind of thing for Mudslide Crush all the time, and he knows some business stuff from his dad." "OK," said Stella.

To Ray, she said, "Go ahead." She and Scott went with him on the pretense of needing to know how to put together their set for the evening, but really because they were deathly curious.

Ray approached Mr. Gifford, and said, "Sir, may I?" Mr. Gifford looked confused. He saw Scott and Stella, who both emphatically nodded their approval. Mr. Gifford backed away, and motioned for Ray to take his place.

Ray turned to the owner, "What's this I hear about you not headlining Lemonade Mouth?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm the manager." The owner looked at Mr. Gifford. Ray pre-empted him, "That guy's my assistant. Now, do you wish to tell me why a nationally renowned band is tucked behind someone called 'Wingéd Eyeliner'?"

"That's how we do it here at Az. Everyone is equal, and the line-ups are in alphabetical order. That's our thing."

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've heard since hearing the band name of 'Wingéd Eyeliner'. You know that is a ludicrous business model, right? You will never get decent bands to play here."

"I believe we have Lemonade Mouth performing tonight."

"They are fulfilling a previous obligation that they had to cancel due to an emergency. Now, in reality, they were doing the music store a favor, too, by having an in-store signing. No one buys CD's anymore, and certainly not from brick-and-mortar stores. And _definitely_ not this band's audience. And by the way, buying music isn't the only thing their fans do online. They talk to each other incessantly, about every blessed detail of this band. They will be more than happy to share their experience tonight, especially if they get a puny little unsatisfactory set from their favorite band. I know you think they're mealy-mouthed goody-two-shoes nerds who would never dream of speaking ill of anyone. And they pretty much are. But I am not. And most of their fans are not, either. You will be _destroyed_ after they are done with you, and the members of the Lemonade Mouth will come out smelling like roses. So, maybe it's time that Az changes its policy and has a proper headliner."

The owner kept his composure, but it was clear that he was taking Ray's words in and considering them. He was silent for a couple of seconds, then said, "All right. They'll go last."

"HOLD IT THERE, buddy," said Ray. "They will not simply 'go last'. They will _headline_, which means that the other bands will have to cut their sets in half. And if _any _of the other bands goes so much as one second over their allotted time, I will hobble right onto the stage, crutches and all, and drag them off by their wingéd eyeliner myself."

The owner relented. "All right." And he went off to tell the other bands of the changes.

"Close your mouths, guys, you're gonna catch flies," Ray said to Stella, Scott, and Mr. Gifford.

"Raymond Beech, you've used your powers for good and not evil!" said Stella.

"I hauled myself all the way out here to make sure you didn't screw up my song. I wasn't about to have you not play it."

"Hmm, Scott, maybe we still shouldn't play it. I'm still thinking Dante's…" Stella winked at Scott when she said it.

"Stella Yamada, you'll play that song, or…"

"you'll haul me off by my wingéd eyeliner?"

"Maybe."

She turned away to get ready. Ray headed toward the floor of the club. "Oh no you don't, Mr. Manager!" said Mr. Gifford, smiling. "You're backstage with the band."

While the third band performed, the members of Lemonade Mouth stood backstage awaiting their turn. Stella loved to watch everyone's pre-performance rituals. Olivia sat on a stool, the top of her head against Wen's chest, taking slow and even breaths to keep from panicking. Wen kissed the top of her head repeatedly and brushed her hair with his fingers. This was his way of handling his own nerves. Charlie spun his drum sticks between his fingers. Mo and Scott perpetually tuned and re-tuned their guitars. Stella's own ritual was to watch over her friends and think happy thoughts about them.

Ray approached her from behind as she watched her friends. "No need to be nervous."

"I'm not nervous." But her hand was twitching feverishly. Ray reached down, and he took hold of her hand. Stella's heart exploded. "OK," he said into her ear. That ear immediately felt as if it were 200 degrees. She was sure it was bright red.

"Yamada?" he said into her ear.

"Yes?"

"Don't screw up my song." He leaned a little bit further forward, and he kissed her cheek. Stella's heart had already been on overdrive. At the feeling of Ray's lips on her cheek, everything inside of her melted down to her feet.

There was no denying how she felt about him anymore. Stella had completely fallen, irrevocably, for Ray Beech. She suspected that maybe he felt a little bit for her. But she assumed that it wasn't nearly as much.

Right now, however, she didn't have the time to think about that. It was time to focus on her performance. She turned to face Ray (_oh God, those eyes! Calm down, Stella. Calm down.)_. She said, "Beech? I'm going to own it." And she gave him an enormous Cheshire cat grin.

Just then, they heard from on stage, "Give it up for….LEMONADE MOUTH!" And the house erupted in cheers and applause.

Stella hated to let go of Ray's hand, but it was time to go do her thing. This was the first time, however, that she looked forward to a performance being over. She was excited and nervous at the hope that there might be something to look forward to afterward_._

Stella turned toward the stage. Ray gave her hand a squeeze and said, "Go get 'em, Killer!" Stella loved that he knew exactly what she was feeling right now…at least about performing. She smiled at him again, and she ran onto the stage.


	21. Chapter 21

Tah-dah! Here it is. There's one more chapter after this one. Here's the climax, and next chapter is the dénouement. And then, all done-sies. This has been a blast! I can't thank you all enough for your support.

I do not own Lemonade Mouth.

**Chapter 21**

A few songs into their set, Stella introduced Ray's song. "And now, we'd like to premiere a brand new song, written by our new lyricist and apparently manager, Ray Beech!" The crowd applauded. There seemed to be some confusion from those in the crowd who went to Mesa High. However, the greatest confusion came from back stage.

"_Our new lyricist"? What in the world is she thinking? _Ray Beech was not about to be dragged into the Lemonhead crusade, even if dragged by such a beauty as Stella Yamada. He generally had a grudging respect for her antics, but this was too far. There was no way he was going to put up with this. He would march – er, hobble – onto that stage, grab the microphone, and correct her: "No no no, I am _not _any part of this band. I just wrote them this one song because they helped me out of a jam."

He mulled over the wording of his disclaimer speech, but he was interrupted by the song itself. He started to listen to it. Those were his lyrics and his original chord progression, but they took the song to a level that he hadn't even imagined. The tempo matched his intended tone perfectly. It was not the sappy pop drivel that he had feared it would become. They perfectly preserved the edge he had inserted into the lyrics, mostly due to Olivia's haunting voice, especially when she hit the lower register. Usually, bands would use their guitar or drums to give a song its edge, as they seldom have the gift of a dynamic singer.

And then they got to the bridge. Olivia stepped back, Stella stepped up to the mike, and Stella sang it. Ray knew that Stella had a solid voice, but this was transcendent. The bridge had the most emotional part of the song – at least, as emotional as Ray allowed in his lyrics. Ray realized, hearing Stella sing his words, what he had actually written all along. He hadn't realized it before, but that bridge was his declaration of love to Stella. _Oh no, what did I do?_

He had to hide now. But Ray Beech didn't _do _hiding. He had to do something, or sit down, or leave, or...

_I was king in my throne, and life was good, so good!_

_Then, out of the blue,_

_You took me out of my seat, and put me in my place._

_My place…with you._

He couldn't sit still. He paced. Step, crutch, step, crutch. Did she know? Did everyone else know? How could he be so stupid to put it so publicly like that? What was he going to do?

Then, fear settled in. How did she feel? Did she think he was a total idiot? She seemed to be possibly interested, but he still thought that maybe it was just pity-induced attraction when he was in the hospital. And maybe they were only playing the song in pity for him. _Ugh pity._ That last thought made him sick to his stomach.

But, could Stella maybe care for him, really care? Maybe?

_Pull yourself together_. _You are Ray Beech, ruler of Mesa High School, founder of Mudslide Crush, soccer god. Girls flock to you, not you to them, and especially not this noisy freshman pest._

But his feeble attempt at a pep talk was useless. He could not deny it anymore. He had completely fallen for Stella. Good or bad, he had to know how she felt. He would find out, but there would be no sappy conversation, that was for damned sure. He would find out _his_ way.

The set was over, and the band left the stage.

_Now's my chance. _He readied himself to face her.

Then, they went back on stage for an encore. And another one. And another one. The thing about being a hugely famous band playing a smaller-than-your-fame venue was that the crowd was incredibly receptive to you.

By the time the show was _finally _over, Ray was out of his mind. He had made himself dizzy from all the pacing, and so he wandered behind the stage to find a chair.

Stella was a complete bundle of nerves. Usually, that went away once she started any performance. But this time was different. This time, she poured her heart out, on stage, for the whole world to see, without even knowing if her feelings were returned. And the object of her affection was right there in the wings, watching the whole thing.

She was pleased with her little joke in the intro. She was hoping that it would annoy him enough to distract him from the song. She had caught a glimpse of him backstage, and he had looked pretty angry. Mission accomplished!

Then, as the song progressed, he started to pay attention. Crap! As the bridge approached, he was more and more attentive to the song. Why oh why did she insist on singing the bridge? But she had to. _She _had to be the one to say those words. She didn't want Ray to know how she felt, but she couldn't bear to hear anyone else sing those words. Here it was, there was no turning back.

Once she began singing, everything and everyone else melted away. She could only think of him, his commanding personality, his wry humor, his kindness to his family, those amazing blue eyes, the feeling of his skin under her fingers, that brief nano-second of a kiss, sleeping in his arms. She poured all she had into singing those few lines.

Then, the bridge was over, and she was back to reality. She couldn't help sneaking a peak at Ray. He looked horrified. Great, just great.

Stella was grateful for the encores. She could delay having to face Ray for a little bit longer. Then, the crowd started to dissipate, which meant that they were at their last encore. Stella took a deep breath, and she marched off stage.

Ray wasn't there. _He probably escaped. Seeing him at school on Monday should be fun…_ Stella sighed and made her way behind the stage to put her guitar away.

She made her way through the backstage crowd, smiling and high-fiving the people she passed, inwardly begging to be through with this and home as quickly as possible. She rounded the corner behind a curtain. _Finally!_ But _oh no!,_ there was Ray, sitting in a chair next to her guitar case.

"Um, hi," she said, her heart threatening to jump out of her chest. He said nothing. He simply looked at her.

"I hope you liked what we did with the song. And…um…I was just joking in the intro…ha…ha.." She walked to her guitar case, weighing the possibility of grabbing the case and running out of there, case in one hand and guitar in the other.

Ray continued to look at her. He waited until she was right next to him. Then, he stood up to his full height. He looked down onto Stella's face.

She dove down to her guitar case, and she furiously worked the latches. They, of course, were not behaving themselves. She felt a hand under her elbow. It gently pulled her up. Stella complied.

Stella stood up and faced Ray. He put both of his arms around her waist. He leaned down toward her, never breaking eye contact. His eyes seemed to be trying to say something to her, but he would not speak. Stella would be perfectly happy just staring at those eyes for hours. Ray continued to move in closer. They were now close enough to feel each other's breath on their faces, just like that night in the hospital. But this time, Ray took control, and he did not linger. He closed his eyes, and he closed what remained of the gap between them. This was a Real Kiss. There was no hesitation, no interruption, no thought of anything but each other. Her arms flew up and around his neck. She pulled herself closer to him, as close to him as she could make herself.

This was not Stella's first kiss. And it certainly was not Ray's first kiss. But for both of them, there was nothing like this that they had ever experienced.

_If this is his way of letting me down easy, I'll be happy to take what I can get_. She willed herself to remember exactly this moment, as she was still pretty convinced that he didn't feel for her what she felt…but…his arms held her tight…and that kiss! She was starting to feel a bit light-headed, not that she would fall down with how strongly he was holding her.

He stopped kissing her long enough to say, "So, I guess you figured it out? Or are you humoring me?"

"Huh?"

"I didn't realize how obvious I was when I wrote the song..."

"because it wasn't obvious when I went all emo singing it?"

"Wait. So…you…do…too?"

"_Too!" He said "too"!_ Stella let her joy give her the courage to just say how she felt out loud. Looking into his eyes, she said, "You'd better believe I do."

Ray's entire face melted into an enormous grin. He caught himself before feeling like a total idiot and made himself calm down. _Aw, hell_. He let the smile come back."OK, then!" he said. He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her in close, and kissed her. He actually lifted her off the ground, not that she'd even know if she were standing or not.

Then, they heard a pronounced throat-clearing. It was Wen, with everyone else in the band next to him. As they walked toward the pair, Stella began to panic.

"What are we going to tell them?" she asked, turning around to face her friends. Ray did not let go of her. His right arm was around her waist, and his left hand rested on the other side of her waist.

"The truth," Ray said simply. Then, he leaned directly to her ear and said very quietly, "that Ray Beech is in love with Stella Yamada."


	22. Chapter 22

And here's the end. Thank-you very much, everyone!

I do not own Lemonade Mouth.

**Chapter 22**

Her heart leapt. She smiled the biggest smile of her life.

Ray was glad she wasn't looking at him when he said it. He was secure of her "like", but her love? Maybe he'd gone too far.

"Um," said Mo, "what's going on? Stella, do you have something to tell us?"

"Yes," said Stella. "So, it turns out, I'm in love with Ray." Ray's grip on her waist tightened.

"Yeah, we already knew that," said Wen. "Mo was referring to your announcement on stage about Ray being our new lyricist and _manager_?"

"Shouldn't we maybe talk about that first?" said Olivia. "I mean, not that you don't write well or anything, Ray. And you really helped us out tonight. But it's kind of a thing the band should sort of discuss, you know?"

"OK, everyone relax," said Stella. "It was a joke, just a little joke I was playing on him."

"Oh" and "OK", said everyone else.

"But wait a second…" said Scott, "it's not a bad idea…" He noticed everyone's facial expressions, and so he quickly stated his case. "Ray is a great writer. And if Olivia ever wants to let him, he could sing." Olivia looked like she was seriously considering it. "Also, let's not forget what he did for us tonight. If he could use his mad take-command-of-a-room skills to deal with the interactions with actual people, and Mr. and Mrs. Gifford took care of the business end of it all, the 3 of them could combine to make the perfect manager."

Silence. Everyone looked around at one another. Little by little, they began to nod.

Ray spoke first. "Woah, wait a second. I have my own band, remember? I'm not looking to join anyone else."

Stella replied. "No one is expecting anything, Ray. But see it this way. Dean is graduating this year, and so that makes two bandmates you'll have to replace, and then train, to really _be _Mudslide Crush, in the way that it's supposed to be. With Lemonade Mouth, you'll get to boss around strangers, write as much as you want, and with Olivia's permission, sing as much as you want. AND you'll get to hang out with me!" She flashed him the cheesiest grin she could come up with.

She concluded, "OK, guys, I have to say it."

"NO!" Everyone dreaded whatever was going to come next. Stella was known among her friends for coming up with terrible jokes. This group, her very best friends, on many occasions, threw things at her out of annoyance at her horrid jokes.

Charlie looked around for something to throw. Scott ran over and pinned Charlie's arms down at his sides. "OK, Stell, go ahead, you're safe now."

Stella faced Ray. "C'mon, Ray…don't you wish you were us? Well, doncha?" She said the last part in a perfect imitation of how Ray sang it.

"Ugh!" "Argh!" "You're awful!" said her friends simultaneously. A crumpled piece of paper sailed through the air and hit her square on the face.

"Hey! Scott, I thought you had him," said Stella.

"I did!"

"It was me," said Olivia.

"Seriously? Could you be more adorable?" said Wen, as he hugged his girlfriend tightly.

"Gross," said Ray. "I'm going to get cavities from the over-sweetness of this…group."

"Maybe…if you join us," said Stella.

"I think I'll have to. You're going to need someone to increase your cool factor, if you plan to keep your success up."

Mo rolled her eyes, but then she smiled. Scott high-fived his best friend. The others were still a little bit gun-shy about Ray, dubious about putting their trust in him. Ray carefully looked each Charlie, Wen, and Olivia in the eye, and shook their hands. Charlie and Wen accepted his peace offer. Olivia looked away quickly after she shook his hand.

"Olivia," said Ray, "I am sorry for being so awful to you before. You don't deserve to have been treated like that. I was wrong."

"Thank-you," said Olivia. Wen took Olivia's hand, and he kissed her cheek. He pulled her aside for a private conversation.

"Livvie, sweetie, if you don't want him to join, I'll totally back you up."

Olivia smiled up at Wen. "Thank-you. You are just too perfect."

Stella approached the two of them. "Guys, hey. I'm sorry about all of that. I didn't intend to spring anything on you. It really was a joke. And we don't have to take him. We're all for it, or we're all against it. Period." By that time, Charlie had already joined the group. "Yeah, what she said."

Olivia spoke. "You guys are the best friends I could ask for. Just that you would offer that to me is reason enough for me to take a chance on him. I love you guys."

"We love you, too, Olivia!" said Charlie. They walked over to Ray to tell him Olivia had given her approval.

Wen stayed behind. He put his arms around Olivia and he said into her ear, "And I love you, Olivia."

Olivia didn't think that Wen could make her happier. She was content with their friendship, happy that he could be her boyfriend, but that he loved her? That was a whole new level of joy.

She reached up, put one hand on one of his cheeks, and she repeatedly kissed the other cheek. She finally stopped at his ear, and she said in a barely audible whisper, "I love you, Wen." He held her tight, and they stood there, in each other's arms and smiling into each other's shoulders.

"I'm starved," whined Charlie. "Can we _please _go eat now?"

"After you visit with you adoring fans," said Mo, gesturing to the crowd of girls who were still lingering on the floor, waiting to see if Charlie would come out and greet them.

"OK," he obeyed. Charlie had discovered a knack for talking to fans, and he now actually enjoyed it a great deal. Someday he would find proper love, but for now, he was quite content with being Lemonade Mouth's crushable ambassador.

"We'll go get a table!" said Scott. "Stella, you coming?"

Ray answered for her. "She'll catch you later." They left.

"But they're my ride," complained Stella.

"Nope," said Ray. "You have far too much lost time to make up for." He pulled her into his arms again, and she let herself fall.

Finis

_Thank-you very much, everyone, for such warm support! I have LOVED writing this story, and I'm very happy that you have enjoyed reading it._


	23. Chapter 23

Mostly, I wanted you to know that I've been working on a sequel. It was supposed to be a Charlie story, but I just can't get enough of Stella and Ray! So, there's a bit of them, too.

I don't own Lemonade Mouth.

**Chapter 23 (Epilogue)**

While Charlie was talking to his fans, Olivia and Wen started to take down his drum kit.

"Crazy night, huh?" said Wen.

Olivia replied, "No kidding! Ray and Stella? I mean, I guess I saw it coming, but still…and did we really just agree to let him manage us?"

"I believe so. But he did do us a huge favor tonight, and my dad was pretty relieved to have someone who knows how to deal with the venue-owner-type of person step in."

"True…" said Olivia, still a bit hesitant, "but I still don't know if Ray has really changed, you know?"

"Yeah, but there's only one way to find out." Olivia nodded, and they continued to work at taking the pieces down and packing them. Scott's mom had leant them her van for the night, which helped immensely. With local shows, it was just easier to transport everything themselves, rather than go about hiring a crew to do it. It also made it faster to just get home afterward.

"All right, I think that's the last of it," said Olivia. She looked over at Charlie. "Isn't it amazing how at ease he looks? Who would have thought it, right?"

"Who _wouldn't_ be at ease when surrounded by girls who adore you!" Wen replied. Olivia raised an eyebrow at him. His only defense was to envelope her in a hug before she got violent.

"Urgh!" she said from behind his sleeve. "No fair, you rat fink!"

"I use the weapons I have in my arsenal."

Olivia looked over Wen's arm and at Charlie again. "Well, I hope Charlie finds his happiness. He deserves something, or someone, wonderful, especially since the whole…Mo…situation…didn't work out for him."

"What are you talking about?" said Wen.

"You're a terrible liar, Gifford. It's obvious to everyone human that Charlie is fighting hard to get over her."

"Throw a few more adoring beauties at him, and he'll be soon all, 'Mo who?'" concluded Wen.

"We'll see…" said Olivia.

Once the van was all packed, Mo volunteered to go get Charlie. "I'd better go rescue him from the throngs!" she said.

"I don't think he needs it." said Wen quietly. This time, Olivia did smack him. Scott laughed, but he was also a touch curious as to why Mo had such an interest in Charlie's fans….

**This story continues in the sequel, "More Than a Fan Girl". In it, Stella and Ray figure their way out as a couple (because they're so freakin' fun to write!), we see if Ray's changes actually stick, and Charlie finds his way to love. But why is Mo so concerned about it? This will challenge Mo-and-Scott. But at the end of the day, everyone's mutual passion for making great music carries them through it all!**


End file.
